PARIS — Protesters set fires as they blocked highways and gas stations across France early Wednesday as part of a new nationwide movement. Authorities deployed 80,000 police, who made hundreds of arrests and fired tear gas to disperse crowds.
The "Block Everything" movement was born online over the summer in far-right circles but spread on social media and was co-opted by left-wing, antifascist and anarchist groups. It now includes France’s far-left parties and its powerful labor unions.
Their joint day of unrest adds to the country’s political turmoil after centrist President Emmanuel Macron’s government collapsed this week in a similar backlash over proposed budget cuts and broader anger at the political class.
The French Interior Ministry said that 175,000 people took part in 812 protest actions around the country and police made 473 arrests nationwide, including 203 in Paris alone.
Barricades were erected in several major cities, including Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse. Entry to an Amazon depot in northern France was also blocked as the country's largest union said 715 disruptions had been organized nationwide.
A bus was set on fire in the western city of Rennes, according to Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau. In the southwest, fire damage to electrical cables stopped train services and traffic, government transport authorities said.
In the capital, Paris, groups gathered and set up barricades at several entry points. Demonstrations were expected to continue throughout the day, disrupting travel as some of the main transport unions join the strike.
Hundreds remained gathered outside Gare du Nord, one of the city's main train stations, despite earlier attempts from police to disperse the crowds with tear gas.
“We are here, even if Macron doesn’t want us, we are here,” they chanted.
There were dramatic scenes outside a high school in eastern Paris, where police clashed with dozens of students who had blocked entry to the building.
“Police forced the opening of one of the doors to let students in, and there was some violence with tear gas,” Ariane Anemoyannis, spokesperson for the youth group Le Poing Levé, who was at the scene, told NBC News.
Police also broke up an earlier strike, which transport workers organized near the high school, Anemoyannis said.
“There were several hundred people who showed up in support of the workers,” she said, “the police charged against the picket line to break up the strike.”
Public anger in France grew when then-Prime Minister Francois Bayrou announced his plan to cut the budget by over $50 billion. He proposed striking two national holidays from the calendar, freezing pensions for 2026 and cutting billions in health spending.
The two extremes of the political spectrum joined forces in the National Assembly on Monday, causing the collapse of the French government in a no confidence vote fueled by opposition to the budget cuts.
But although Bayrou might be gone, the deep mistrust over his proposed austerity plan and the government as a whole remains.
Some are turning their sights on Macron, calling for his resignation before his tenure is scheduled to end in 2027. He named his fifth prime minister in less than two years Tuesday, choosing close ally Sébastien Lecornu.
Lecornu promised during a handover ceremony Wednesday to meet "with members from the biggest political parties," saying, "There must be changes."
Many taking to the streets say they resent being asked to make sacrifices while those they describe as the ruling elite are increasingly disconnected from their reality and daily struggles.
Catherine Parrat, 71, said that she initially voted for Macron but that he "no longer gives a damn" and that she believes she pays too much in tax. She told NBC News she was disappointed by Wednesday's turnout, saying there were not enough people to make an impact.
For police, there was an element of unpredictability: The demonstrations are decentralized and leaderless, with no specific union, organization or individual leading the charge.
On the eve of the demonstrations, Retailleau, the outgoing interior minister, said no violence would be tolerated and announced the deployment of 80,000 police and gendarmes — the French military police.
It is a show of force not seen since the height of the Yellow Vests protests in 2018, sparked by Macron’s proposed fuel tax to curb carbon emissions.
