France Arrests 135 in Second Weekend of Protests as 70,000 Police Hold Paris Quiet and Lyon Fires Tear Gas

French police arrested 135 people across the country on Saturday as a second weekend of protests over the rising cost of living got under way, but the massive security operation appeared to be doing its job. By midday Paris police described the capital as calm, and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said there had been no major incident so far.

The arrests came largely before marches began. Officers seized metal balls, lead pellets, fireworks, slingshots, improvised weapons, airsoft guns and even a katana sword. Nunez said the haul showed that some far-left groups were determined to turn demonstrations violent.

Last weekend's protests spiralled into the country's worst rioting in years, with around 2,700 arrests and roughly 3,000 shops damaged or looted (see our earlier coverage).

A city braced for the worst

The government left little to chance this time. About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed nationwide, backed by helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannon. In Paris, the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Picasso Museum and the Grand Palais all closed for the day. Art Basel, which opened its Paris fair on Friday, cancelled its weekend programme.

Shopkeepers along the Champs-Elysees and around Bastille and Place de la Republique spent the week boarding up windows. Some retailers stripped their shelves bare, and several large chains told customers they would stay shut on Saturday. Paris police also ordered a union march moved at the last minute from Bastille to Porte d'Italie on the city's southern edge. Unions reluctantly complied, though the Yellow Vest movement signalled it would not.

Tear gas in Lyon, bans elsewhere

The tension was sharpest in Lyon, where local authorities had banned demonstrations in the city centre. Police fired tear gas to disperse about 150 people who tried to block a road near a university building and the main police station. Some masked protesters threw the canisters back at officers.

Rallies were also banned in Nice and Montpellier. Marseille, which had initially banned all protests, allowed a single union-organised march on an exceptional basis. The restrictions drew criticism from rights groups. Amnesty International called the measures a slide toward authoritarian practice, and unions accused the government of an authoritarian drift.

Le Pen's congress draws a counter-march

A separate flashpoint emerged in Orleans, where Marine Le Pen's National Rally opened a two-day congress to launch her campaign for next spring's presidential election. The local prefecture counted about 11,000 people at an anti-far-right march by midday, while organisers claimed 26,000. Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure and CGT union chief Sophie Binet joined the protest. Nearly 3,000 officers were deployed in the city, and the mayor imposed a weekend night curfew for children under 15.

The mood was sharpened by Friday's shooting in Trappes, west of Paris, in which a gunman killed one person and wounded five. President Emmanuel Macron called it a racist terrorist attack, and anti-terror prosecutors are investigating. Le Pen, who leads most polls for the 2027 race, is due to give her campaign-launch speech on Sunday.

Why the unrest matters beyond France

The protests began last month with high-school students demanding better conditions, then widened into a broader revolt against living costs, which have surged since the Middle East war pushed oil prices sharply higher. Similar demonstrations hit Italy, Spain, Belgium and Portugal this weekend, and Italy deployed soldiers in Milan. Courts in France have already jailed 217 people over last weekend's violence, and the Yellow Vests have called another day of action for October 31.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.