Attempted murder probe after petrol bomb thrown at French riot police

French authorities have launched an investigation into an alleged attempted murder of a police officer, while Germany’s interior minister has urged severe punishment following violent eruptions that followed largely peaceful, youth‑led demonstrations across Europe.

In Portugal, officers – including canine units – used baton charges to disperse protest camps, and Swiss security forces faced attacks with stones.

Demonstrations over education, public‑service cutbacks, bleak job prospects, unaffordable housing and a soaring cost of living have shaken several nations this autumn.

Violent clashes broke out on Saturday night in Paris, Marseille, Grenoble, Bordeaux, Lyon and Toulouse, after roughly 320,000 demonstrators – some wearing Halloween costumes – took to the streets.

When the demonstrations concluded, masked and hooded rioters arrived, prompting Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez to label the level of violence “extraordinary.” Over 770 individuals were taken into custody.

In Paris, prosecutors reported that incendiary devices were hurled at roughly 15 gendarmes and police officers, prompting a formal investigation into attempted murder of public servants.

Dobrindt told the tabloid newspaper Bild that deploying a heavy police presence across multiple locations had been effective. “Excesses of ​violence like those ‌in Paris were ​prevented thanks to our ​highly committed police forces,” he said.

More than 100,000 protesters marched in over 30 German cities on Saturday to demand better education and lower living costs in protests led by the “Gen Z regelt” (Gen Z will sort it) campaign.

Hooded rioters damaged 17 Frankfurt shops, looting five of them, and threw missiles including petrol bombs, according to Roman Poseck, the state interior minister for Hesse.

More than 100 of the 1,300 police officers deployed in the city were injured and 54 suspects, ‌aged from 13 to 29, were arrested. “I am shocked by what I have seen, and there is no point in sugar‑coating it. Let me make this very clear: things cannot go on like this,” Poseck said.

Most of those arrested were German nationals, the minister said, adding that police estimated they had been confronted with “between 1,000 and 1,500 violent troublemakers, predominantly from a migrant background”.

Violence also broke out Saturday night in Cologne, where police used water cannon to disperse the crowd, and in Berlin, where protesters attacked police with bottles and fireworks. Gen Z regelt posted a statement distancing itself from all violence.

In Portugal, riot police removed protesters by force from Rossio Square in Lisbon at about 4.30 am on Sunday after thousands of people angry at the housing crisis marched through the city on Saturday and set up camp.

The protesters want Portugal’s minority centre‑right government to withdraw a bill that makes evictions easier and ends rent caps on new leases. A smaller camp in Porto was also cleared by force.

In Albania, masked protesters hurled stones and firebombs at police in the capital, Tirana, on the margins of a demonstration demanding the resignation of the prime minister, Edi Rama, over perceived corruption.

In Switzerland, hundreds of protesters gathered in Zürich and Basel on Saturday night for unauthorised demonstrations – both of which ended in violence – under the slogan: “We’ve had enough in Switzerland, too.”

In Zürich, police used water cannon, teargas and rubber bullets to disperse rioters attacking them with fireworks, bottles and stones, Swiss media reported. A police patrol car was damaged and rubbish bins and electric bikes set on fire.

In Basel, police said about 150 people gathered in the city centre at around 9 pm. Shop windows were smashed, facades tagged with graffiti and bins and bikes set on fire, with incidents also reported in Geneva.

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