France: Some clashes erupted at end of protests

There were tensions as demonstrators were dispersing at the end of the Paris march. With stones thrown against tear gas, police say 500 rioters, masked and dressed in black, took on law enforcement officers. Police made dozens of arrests, in contrast with the rest of the day, which was somewhat calm overall. When the marchers set off from the Porte d'Italie on the edge of Paris at 2 o'clock, no incidents were reported, according to the unit in charge at the front of the demonstration. They are well grouped. It's much denser, but for the moment, very friendly. Security measures were beefed up compared to last weekend. The police prefecture even changed the originally planned route at the last minute, officially for security reasons. The Place de la Bastille, Bastille Square, was evacuated. That angered and confused certain protesters, including these students. They told us we had to go to the Porte d'Italie, otherwise we could get a fine. Hold on, the police are coming, sorry. Various police checks were carried out and took place smoothly. The police prefecture released photos of some of what was seized, which included fireworks. In Lyon, where protests were banned over a wide area, these students spent part of the afternoon playing cat and mouse with police. We couldn't even walk or talk. We were dispersed right away. Here, too, there were scuffles at the end of the day. And there were similar scenes in Marseille, where a protest march was finally given permission, with some incidents and minor looting at the end of the demonstration. Nothing compared at that point with what happened on 17 October, according to local authorities. In total, nearly 1,000 people were arrested nationwide.