Violence Returns to Streets of France Amid Warning Protesters Have Been Told to “Bring Knives” and “Stab Civilians”

Violence has returned to the streets of France today as far-Left protesters lead clashes with police amid warnings that demonstrators have been told to “bring knives” and “stab civilians”. The Mail has more.

In Paris, police were seen using tear gas and pepper spray on protesters in the centre of the capital city. Riot cops covered in body armour used shields and batons to push back demonstrators. 

Over in Rennes, police used water cannon against protesters who had taken to the streets.  

French newspaper Le Parisien reported that some inciters are telling their Snapchat followers to “bring knives” and “stab civilians in the crowd” outside the Couffignal high school in Strasbourg. 

Police sources told the newspaper that they had received reports concerning potential violence during blockades outside schools in the French city.  

Students are set to be joined by tens of thousands of demonstrators as France’s powerful trade unions will join far-Left student protests.

Authorities are expecting some 20,000 to 40,000 demonstrators in Paris today, while they added that nearly 90,000 protesters took to the streets of the rest of the country. 

Weeks of pupil blockades protesting against failing school conditions have in recent days escalated into violent clashes with police across hundreds of campuses. 

Students have walked out complaining of missing teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures.

The demonstrations quickly turned into pupils lighting dustbin fires, torching bus shelters and clashing with riot police, who have in turn responded with batons, tear gas and riot-control rounds. 

At the mass march in Paris, Ryad Rani – the President of the country’s high school student union – decried the government’s “complete lack of political response”.

He said: “Today is a fight for dignity. This is serious, it’s incredibly violent; when young people rise up, the Government represses them.”

Officials said this afternoon that classes at nearly 900 schools had been either totally or partially suspended amid the nationwide protests.  

Since the start of the movement, 24 schools have been burned or ransacked, according to the Education Minister.

More than 5,000 people, 87% of them minors, have been arrested. Sébastien Lecornu’s office said 85 teaching staff have also been injured.

Officials added that more than 1,800 people are being prosecuted, including 1,483 minors, without specifying the crimes, and that 790 cases had been dismissed.

The French Government says 215 students and 715 officers have been injured since the start of the movement, with a 15 year-old reportedly losing his hand on Monday when he picked up a stun grenade fired by riot police.

Footage from the scene showed several people tending to the young man as he lay on the pavement. His left hand appeared to be missing, with a bloody stump in its place.

Worth reading in full.