Paris Police Chief Warns Student Protests Have Spiraled Out of Control, Demands Peaceful Action

PARIS — The student protest movement sweeping across France is now “out of control,” Paris police chief Patrice Faure stated on Saturday, urging demonstrators to return to peaceful action and warning authorities will respond firmly to violence and vandalism.

Riot police clashed with high school students across France on Friday, while unions called for teachers to strike as President Emmanuel Macron’s government struggled to contain escalating protests over classroom conditions and funding.

Since Monday, approximately 5,000 people, mostly teenagers, have been arrested nationwide, and dozens have been injured.

Agathe Foucault, a national police spokesperson, told RTL radio on Saturday that over 600 officers had also been injured.

Teachers and members of the public have been attacked, while property damage is estimated in the tens of millions of euros.

In an open letter published on X ahead of planned renewed protests next Tuesday, Paris police chief Patrice Faure stated that the movement’s original organizers no longer controlled it, calling on students to abandon school blockades and unrest in favor of peaceful protest.

“It is time to return to peaceful forms of action,” Faure wrote, adding that parents also bear a responsibility to steer their children away from what he described as the influence of “professional rioters” and their supporters.

Student unions have called for a national day of demonstrations on Tuesday, though security officials fear an organized protest in central Paris could descend into further violence, with concerns that far-left anarchist groups might hijack the movement.

Students blockading high schools have voiced anger over overcrowded classrooms, chronic teacher shortages, and dilapidated buildings, blaming years of underinvestment.

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