French Police Clash with Protesters as 320000 March on Halloween Weekend

French police fired tear gas and water cannon in several cities on Saturday as an estimated 320,000 people marched against living costs and education policy. The interior ministry put the nationwide total at 320,000, including 70,000 in Paris. Youth organisations counted closer to half a million.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had ordered 70,000 officers and gendarmes into position ahead of the Halloween weekend. He described the risk of public disorder as very high and barred demonstrations from central city areas. Shops boarded windows. A helicopter circled over eastern Paris as the main march moved.

Most of the day stayed peaceful. Protesters carried placards reading that tear gas was not needed to make their futures look bleak and that they had dressed as angry citizens for Halloween. Some wore costumes ranging from Spider-Man to Frankenstein. Jean-Luc Mélenchon of France Unbowed joined the Paris march and praised the turnout.

After official routes ended, unauthorised groups formed. In eastern Paris, dozens of masked people in black used hammers to lift paving stones and throw them at police. Officers responded with tear gas. In Lyon, projectiles prompted more gas. In Toulouse, police used a water cannon against an unauthorised march of several thousand. More than 500 people were arrested by evening.

The protests began in mid-September with high-school students blocking schools over education conditions and costs. By October the movement had drawn unions, yellow-vest veterans and others. On 17 October, interior ministry figures showed 550,000 people; unions claimed 800,000. That day saw the worst violence in years: a city hall burned in Limoges, the tourist office torched in Lyon, and looting in multiple cities. More than 1,200 arrests followed.

Turnout has fallen since then. The previous Saturday drew about 410,000 by ministry count. Nuñez said Saturday's marches were largely peaceful despite extraordinary violence from some groups. Alice Hien, a video-game developer in the Paris crowd, said pushing demonstrations outside centres and banning routes amounted to an attack on freedom of assembly.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has said the government will not be intimidated and blamed ultra-left elements and criminals. Education Minister Édouard Geffray reported vandalism or arson at at least 24 schools earlier in the month. More than 5,000 people have been detained across the weeks, most of them minors, according to the interior ministry. Nearly 300 students and school staff were injured, along with hundreds of officers.

The grievances remain consistent: overcrowded classrooms, rising rents and food prices, and a sense that public services are failing. Student groups have called for more funding and an end to austerity measures. The movement coincides with the run-up to the 2027 presidential election. Far-left and far-right parties have both sought to channel the anger.

Authorities warned that Halloween masks could conceal identities and banned some planned routes in the capital. The top administrative court overturned a lower-court decision that had allowed a Bastille-to-Nation path. Protesters still marched into the evening in permitted areas. By nightfall, the main gatherings had dispersed, but small groups continued to set bins alight in a few neighbourhoods.

The interior ministry will release final arrest and injury figures in the coming days. Further protests are already planned. The government has increased the police presence for the weekend but has not announced new policy concessions on education or living costs. The size of the next turnout will show whether the movement is losing momentum or preparing for another peak before the election cycle begins in earnest.