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Politics

Protests Sweep Through Paris

On Saturday, October 17, Jérôme Sessini and Peter van Agtmael witnessed the mass protests that took hold of Paris, amid a nationwide student and anti-government demonstration

Magnum Photographers

Riot police clash with dozens of people at Place de la République before the demonstration has even begun. Later in the evening, masked groups cause damage to shops and vehicles in Paris and severa (...)

On October 17, 2026, hundreds of thousands of protestors across France took to the streets in widespread anti-government demonstrations.

More than half a million people, according to the French interior ministry, or up to 800,000 from General Confederation of Labor estimates, protested across France on Saturday, including 110,000 in the capital.

Demonstrators near Place de La République. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Paris and cities across France as part of a nationwide wave of protests against the rising c (...)

After four weeks of protests led by high school students in response to degraded school conditions, a wider anti-government movement converged, bringing together workers, trade unions, and the Yellow Vest movement.

In recent weeks, students have raised concerns over crumbling infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, intense schedules, a shortage of teachers and staff, a lack of funding, and over-selective state-run admissions platforms.

Their frustration has been exacerbated by the police response, resulting in 34 cases of police misconduct, according to The New York Times. Among the cases being investigated are a 15-year-old student studying carpentry at a vocational high school whose left hand was ripped off by a police stun grenade explosion; a 14-year-old boy with a fractured jaw after police fired a tear gas canister at close range, striking him in the face; and a 16-year-old high school student who lost the use of his eye allegedly from a rubber-bullet launcher.

Despite much of the protests being peaceful, the weekend’s demonstrations ended in riots, looting, and arson attacks. Outside of Paris, this included a fire at the town hall in Limoges’ which caused its steeple collapsed, and another fire in Lyon’s tourism office.

Day 2 of clashes with police. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Paris and cities across France as part of a nationwide wave of protests against the rising cost of living (...)

Sessini and van Agtmael documented the demonstrations amid the unrest in the capital, which led to nearly 2,400 arrests across France and hundreds of police officers and firefighters injured.

Hundreds of peaceful demonstrators converge on Place de la République, where violent clashes between riot police and rioters are underway. Later in the evening, masked groups cause damage to shops (...)

In his televised address on October 18, President Macron criticized “factious groups from the ultra-left, joined by numerous delinquents.”

The discontent in France, the second largest economy in the European Union, has intensified as the country faces strained public finances, a challenging fiscal backdrop and a growing social crisis in the lead up to the presidential election next April.