Paris protests turn violent after petrol bomb attack on police
French prosecutors have opened an attempted-murder investigation after a petrol bomb was thrown at police during protests in Paris on Saturday. The incident came as the third weekend of demonstrations in the French capital and other parts of France turned violent in some areas. An officer was set alight and suffered second-degree burns, according to the prosecutor's office.
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Investigators are working to identify those responsible for the attack, and no suspects are in custody. The prosecutor's office said the case concerns the attempted murder of persons vested with public authority. It said explosive devices were thrown at around 15 gendarmes and police officers, while the Paris Police Prefecture accused several hundred rioters of attacking security forces with projectiles, including a Molotov cocktail.
The protests drew hundreds of thousands of people nationwide, including high school and university students, over education and living costs. Officials said about 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across the country on Saturday to respond to an estimated 320,000 protesters. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said most gatherings were peaceful, but some in Paris ended in what he described as extraordinary levels of violence.
The attack matters because it has turned a public-order operation into a serious criminal inquiry involving violence against state officers. In France, gendarmes are part of the military police branch of the armed forces, and attacks on them can trigger major legal and security responses. The scale of the deployment also underlines the authorities' concern about the spread of unrest beyond a single demonstration.
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The protests are part of a wider wave of demonstrations that have been taking place across Europe in recent weeks, although the Paris case is being treated on its own facts. In France, the weekend mobilisations have combined student participation with broader anger over the cost of living and education issues. The violence in Paris appears to have been concentrated among a smaller group of rioters rather than the wider protest movement.
What remains unclear is who threw the petrol bomb and whether any arrests will follow. Prosecutors said investigators are still trying to identify those responsible, and the full extent of the officer's injuries has not been detailed beyond second-degree burns. The next developments will likely depend on forensic work, video evidence and any further statements from police and prosecutors.
