Darmanin said 735 of France’s 3,700 schools were affected “in one way or another” by the violent protests. Announcing the arrests on Friday night, Núñez told French television network TF1: “We are sliding towards riots and urban violence, and we are using all intermediate means to put an end to it.” Meanwhile, Education Minister Édouard Geffray said the movement had been hijacked by people who were not students. He told French broadcaster BFMTV that the teachers had said that “the people who were in front of me were not my students.” Earlier Friday, a 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following protests in Belfort, northeastern France, where a police officer was attacked. BBC Verify has now authenticated two videos showing the man, who was later identified as an officer by a minister, being beaten. In the graphic images a group of young people are seen chasing him. The officer falls to the ground and is subsequently punched and kicked multiple times in the head. At least 65 staff were injured in the unrest, the Ministry of Education said. In the Paris suburb of Pantin, police charged protesters and made arrests after they threw projectiles at officers. Meanwhile, in Strasbourg, tear gas was fired as police feared conditions would become more hostile, according to the Reuters news agency. Garbage containers have also been set on fire in Rennes and Paris. As far as we are concerned, we have won: our school is closed this morning,” Lola, a 16-year-old protester, told the AFP news agency on Friday. She said police actions had made things worse. “This makes us even more angry: the police have no right to beat us or use tear gas against us,” she added.
