Clashes and damage occurred on Monday in Paris at the head of the May Day procession, with projectiles thrown at the police and shop windows smashed, AFP reported.
The first incidents took place as soon as the inter-union demonstration started in heavy rain at around 14:15 at Place de la République.
Large firecrackers and projectiles were thrown at the riot police that waited. A policeman was hit by a Molotov cocktail and “suffered supposedly serious burns”, the Paris police prefecture (PP) said.
Several businesses along the route had their windows smashed, including bank and real estate agencies, a photocopy shop. Street furniture was also vandalised.
🔴 Les policiers doivent reculer face aux projectiles. Manifestation du #1erMai sous très haute tension à #Paris pic.twitter.com/LeZwJDg8Hs
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) May 1, 2023
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin took to Twitter to denounce the violence in Paris and also Lyon and Nantes, which he attributed to “extremely violent thugs who came with an objective: to kill cops and attack other people’s property.”
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With tensions rising, the police decided to intervene in an effort to break up the protests, notably by attempting to divide the more aggressive head of the protest from the procession behind. This manoeuvre effectively split demonstrators into two groups.
The head of the procession arrived at around 16:15 at Place de la Nation in a climate of high tension, using fireworks and starting fires. Forces of order retaliated with large amounts of tear gas and defensive grenades.
“The violent elements all arrived at the Place de la Nation... they tried to hinder the progress of the procession by committing damage and violence," the PP commented.
According to the same source, 2,740 checks had been carried out by 14:10 before the demonstration started. By 16:40, 46 people had been stopped.
