5,000 ARRESTED in France protests as chaos SURGES

And for days now, hundreds of schools have been closed. The worst of it, the growing list of schools heavily damaged or burned. This began with students demanding more teachers and better school conditions. But you know what? We've seen this in our country, right? The left-wing actors have their own mission as insurgents when the chaos cooks. They seize on the protests and urge the supporters to flood the streets. That's what's happening in France right now. Jeff Paul is in Paris, where riot police have been confronting protesters. Jeff? Well, yeah, Harris, and big crowds today gathering not only here in central Paris, but all throughout the country. Tens of thousands of people taking to the streets, demonstrating and calling for equality in French schools. And during many of these protests, there have been some clashes between demonstrators and police, with officers using tear gas at some points to clear the crowd. As many as 5,000 people have been arrested, with the vast majority of them being minors. Nearly 200 have been injured, including one student who had his hand blown off this week. Protesters, mostly students, are calling for a change in French schools. They point to overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, and crumbling buildings. Today, we spoke with one student who says he hopes the government is listening. Students want to be heard, and the best way is to make noise in the street. And even if on TV, they won't always be showing the important things, if you look out of the window, you'll see what the students want and what the students are asking for. On the political side of things, critics of the far left here in France have accused them of provoking and manipulating students for their own political gain. The far left says it supports the protests, but insists it did not organize them. France's prime minister says they were listening to students, but standing by police officers who have been hurt. Demonstrators say they don't want empty promises. They want something concrete. Now, as of today, around 400 to 500 schools were either partially closed or fully closed. The main question right now, Harris, is as this movement grows and as more people join in, including trade unions, we saw a lot of adults out here today joining those students, will the movement become more violent? Of course, a lot of police officers out here standing by, waiting to see exactly what happens. Harris? So, Jeff, you just floated away from the original cause of all this, according to the people on the ground. I mean, trade unions now and politics all in this, it sounds like it has nothing to do with the books and the school conditions at this point. Jeff Paul, thank you very much. Niall Gardner, former advisor to one-time UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher. He's also a Fox News contributor. Great to have you today. Niall, you heard probably what I was just saying, then what is this really? Because if you've got trade unions and others now jumping in, this is not about the students who started this. It's great to see you, Harris, and I have to say these protests are being orchestrated by the far left, by communists, also by Islamist groups as well. And if you look at the students taking part, I would say the overwhelming majority come from, you know, second, third generation migrant backgrounds, heavily Islamic students involved. And you see this unholy alliance really between the far left, the communists, and also the Islamists as well. And we're seeing France descending into, you know, sheer barbarism. Hundreds of large numbers of police are being injured. People are being set on fire by some of these student protesters, rioters. And, you know, this is a country descending into anarchy and savagery, frankly, the scenes that we've seen absolutely shocking. And this is a direct result of both, you know, decades of out-of-control mass migration into France, but also the rise of the far left in France, incredibly destructive. Add into the mix, of course, a useless leader in the form of Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and a weak-kneed government. And this is the result, really. Wow. And we've committed some of those same sins. I mean, when you let people illegally into the country, and you know, after they're here for a very short period of time, they hate the country, they are anti-American, this is what you get. They are easy to ply, I would think, with these outside far left groups who come in with cash and organization. Niall? Yeah, exactly. You know, this is a frightening vision of not only Europe's future, but also America's future if the left take power again in the United States, and they open up the borders, and you have large-scale mass illegal migration. And so what is happening in France could happen in the United States as well if the socialists take power in America. This is a warning, I think, for the whole Western world, including for the United States. And the stakes are incredibly high here. Niall, I didn't mean to cut in, but I don't know if you can see this. This is live right now with all that tear gas down there. And look, when they go in close on these cameras, we've been talking about children and students and teachers. Oh, you can clearly see that's not all who's in this. I mean, come on. If you had this much of participation in anybody's education system, it would get worldwide attention. But that's not what this is. This looks violent. Look at this. Your comment about it as we watch this live together. Yeah, I mean, you have professional far-left-wing thugs taking place in these riots here, and also you have Islamist groups as well involved. And this is an insurrection, frankly, actually, against the French state. And in my view, the government should be deploying the military to take back control of French cities because these are riots on a massive scale and should not be tolerated. Niall, excuse me, did you see there was a flag that went by and it wasn't the flag of France? I mean, what is going on down there? And you're talking about, did you see it go by? I mean, this looks like something different. You said the word insurrection. I mean, we've had pictures and video of schools and things that are damaged. But this is live right now, and you see some of the enforcements behind the line that they're trying to keep with this tear gas, Niall. Yeah, exactly. And you are seeing the Palestinian flag being waved all over France right now. And there's no doubt about it that the pro-Palestinian, the pro-Hamas movements are actively involved in these riots, actually. And this is not only the heart of France here, of Paris, but also the heart of the European Union as well. And you're seeing Europe descending, the heart of Europe descending into a state of anarchy, huge levels of violence and disorder. And it's an absolute disgrace what you're seeing in France. And it is a nightmare vision of Europe's future as a whole and potentially also for the United States as well if the socialists of the far left, if the Islamists gain power in America. This is exactly what will happen. This seems to have taken place overnight. I know you gave my team a list of countries your eye is on watch for, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, all close behind. And then you say, as you've been saying right now in focus, the United States as well. How does this happen so quickly? You've given us a list of some of the agitators, and we've seen flags from other countries. You mentioned seeing the Palestinian flag. I saw it too. Why is this so rapid? How? Well, what you've seen in Europe in the last decade, last two decades, Harris, is large-scale mass migration from third world countries, largely from Islamic countries into Europe. And Europe has imported a population that is fundamentally against Western civilization, actually. And this is the result that we are seeing now. And this is a direct challenge, of course, to the French government, but also this is a direct challenge to the French people. And France has presidential elections next spring where Marine Le Pen will be facing off against Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the communist leader, in a most likely contest. And this is a battle really between the forces of civilization and barbarism. Wow. This is the reality that we are seeing in France right now, and it's playing across Europe as well. And so the future of Western civilization really is at stake at this time. And because of the disastrous policies of left-wing governments across Europe over the last couple of decades, we are seeing scenes like this unfolding in France. You know, as you speak, it's akin to what I've been saying with the Jewish hate anti-Israel, in some cases pro-Hamas contingent that was on campuses here a couple of summers ago, Niall. And at that point, when we were seeing that, I called it a cultural and a spiritual battle. You have now added on to that from what I hear you saying, and saying that this is somewhat existential in terms of free societies and safe societies. It is. It is actually existential. And right now, you're seeing an exodus of Jews from France, many other European countries as well. They don't feel safe anymore. But this is also, of course, an attack upon Christianity as well. The very foundations of Western civilisation in Europe. And these barbaric mobs on the streets of France, they hate everything that Western civilisation stands for. They want to see the destruction of the West. Did you see that one sweatshirt? If that guy turns back around, it tells you what... He said, I came here, I was trying to read that for... I mean, clearly not protesting for schools. And as my mom would say, pick up your pants, dude. I mean, a lot of this, this is what you are describing it as. There it is, on the back of his sweatshirt. We are getting so... I'm going to ask you to stand by with me, Niall, because this is breaking. Yes. And it's something that we didn't anticipate at this point. There's now a stand-off in the middle of the street. We've seen the tear gas, you've got media in between, the rioters. You know, when you protest, that's free speech. This is in Europe right now, and people are banding together to... It looks like, pull off to the side maybe for some safety, away from all of this. This has gone away from the protesting for schools and teachers and all of that. And this is just a free-for-all. And what you are describing is really frightening, because it's not just here. And in this country, we've seen some of it, but not quite like this. What stops this? Where is the military? You know the ground in Europe. What is it going to take at this point? Yeah, so those are great points, Harris. And what you see at the moment is the French riot police have been deployed in Paris, but also dozens and dozens of citizens across France. But frankly, they are losing control of the country. This is an uprising, basically. This is not about schools or education. This is about overthrowing, frankly, the foundations of Western civilization here. And you do need to see the military being deployed on the streets of France, because otherwise the rioters, the looters, they will take control. It's that serious in France. This is a country descending into a state of anarchy, where the police cannot even control the streets of Paris, the capital city. It is so helpful to have you with your expertise, talking with us as this breaks apart in France. Thank you. I want to keep you with me, because I'm being told our correspondent, who is not far, he's in Paris, Jeff Paul. And Jeff, when we were speaking earlier, we were talking about some damage to schools and so on and so forth. If you're with me, I think we're going to stay on these pictures, but we'll be able to hear you. What are you learning there on the ground, not too far from where this is happening? Well, Harris, many of these people that you're watching on this live footage were just surrounding us a few hours ago. There was about, I don't know, a little over 10,000 people at the square we're at here in central Paris. They were here protesting. Some were shooting off fireworks. They had signs. And then they moved along. And that's kind of where this movement is right now. You have different little factions within this movement that are breaking out, going down different Paris streets. Something happens between the police and the protesters. And then, of course, the tear gas thing comes out because they're trying to get them to leave. But you can see in some of the shots, people are just kind of walking around, taking in what's going on. But in other sections of the city, you have this, a bit of chaos breaking out. And this is what we've seen over the last week. You have this confrontation between the riot police and the demonstrators. And then they have this kind of scene that you're watching unravel live on TV right now. Look, you know, one thing that Niall Gardner and I have been talking about is how quickly this happened. And I'm just wondering, over the week you've been there, Jeff Ball, are people afraid? I mean, you can't even live your daily life. What you describe is this mob is going up and down the streets of Paris. How do you go on at this point? Are people expressing fear? Paris, I've got to tell you, no, people are not expressing fear in the city. It's incredible. Like I said, where we were standing, there were tens of thousands of people. And now where we're standing is just back to normal life. There's tourists out here walking around. The cafes are full. But then these movements then move to another part of the city, and then you have something like this. And then, of course, this will disperse, and they'll go to a different part of the city. So it's a bit of cat and mouse going on right now throughout the city. Niall, I want to bring you back into the conversation. I think you could hear Jeff Ball. And I was curious to know if people were fearful. He said no. This folds in with very large numbers. I mean, you said 10,000 or more near you, Jeff, but overall tens of thousands of people going up and down the streets of Paris. Are more people as citizens involved in this than we know? Are people supportive of this, Niall? Well, you know, I think the vast majority of French people are horrified by what's happening. And undoubtedly, in many parts of France, there is a real fear factor where schools have been, you know, burned to the ground. Teachers have been attacked. Parents are very afraid of sending their children to school. And so there is a lot of fear across France. It's important to bear in mind that the violence that we're seeing in Paris today, and we've seen large-scale unrest, civil unrest, actually in dozens of cities actually across France in the last week, including Marseille, Lyon, two other very big cities in France. And so a lot of people are very afraid of what is happening. And opinion polls show the vast majority of French people are very, very opposed to what's happening. And this has also led in a huge increase in support for Marine Le Pen, the leader of National Rally, the right-wing candidate for the presidency for next year. And I expect that she's going to become the next president because the French people, most French people, Lord Biden people have had enough of these scenes of violence and anarchy. They don't have any confidence, of course, in Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who has barely even spoken about the riots. I mean, he hasn't addressed the nation properly about what is happening, and he's largely ignoring what is going on. It's an absolute disgrace. I mean, Emmanuel Macron, in my view, is the weakest and worst French president of the modern era. And we are seeing scenes of its anarchy and lawlessness. And, yes, I think large numbers of French people are horrified, they are frightened, and they want this all to end. Yeah, it's interesting. Jeff Paul, you're on the streets down there, and Niall, I've been to Paris many times. When you get out into the suburbs and really outside this ring, it's a completely different experience, as it is in most great cities around the world. So it's understandable that maybe what Jeff sees amid the 10,000 or more protesters might be a bit different in terms of people expressing their fear. Nonetheless, life is different right now on the ground, with thousands of people already arrested in the protests. You can look at our screen right now. We've got some of those numbers up. At least 200 people were hurt going into today, and we hope they stay safe. The president of the United States has just entered the conversation. And here's what he's just posted. What's happening in France is nothing less than out-of-control mass migration. This is not about schools. This is about Islam wanting to take over a once great country, President D.J.T. This is what you've been talking about, Niall, and we are hearing in real time during our coverage here on the Faulkner Focus from President Trump on that. Your response. Yeah, well, President Trump is absolutely right here. This is a combination of the Islamists together with the communists, the socialists, the far left. They're joining forces. And this is an outright uprising and insurrection, basically, is what it is that we're witnessing in France. And, you know, the stakes are incredibly high for the French people. And this is a warning for the United States as well. And as the president mentioned, this is a direct result of decades of mass migration. It's both legal and illegal migration into France, largely from Islamic third world countries. And President Trump is absolutely right to dramatically reduce levels of migration into the United States from Islamic countries. In fact, I think it's fallen under the Trump presidency by around 95 percent, which is an astonishingly high figure there. But this is what European countries need to do. If they are going to secure their future and the future of Western civilization, they are going to have to end the mass migration. They are going to also have to deport large numbers of Islamists, actually, who seek the destruction of the West. It's as simple as that. This is not a moment for faint-hearted, weak-kneed politicians, as we see across Europe. This is a moment for strong, decisive leadership, the kind of leadership, of course, that President Trump has brought to the United States. That's the kind of leadership you need to see in Europe.