Violence erupts at France protests as Macron warns unrest is being exploited

Violent clashes broke out across France on Saturday as demonstrations entered a fourth week. Earlier in the week, President made some of his most direct comments yet on the protests as he enters his final six months in office.

In his weekly cabinet meeting, Macron "stressed that young people have legitimate concerns," government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon told the AFP, "but these are being exploited for political purposes and turned into urban violence." Bregeon added that Macron called on his ministers to come up with "concrete responses" to the unrest within weeks.

This comes as a national day of protest over rising costs of living and additional student grievances led to violence in Paris and other major cities today. While many of the protests were without violence, police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent groups in the capital, where people wearing hoods and masks threw fireworks and other objects at officers in the Place de la République. The interior ministry reported assaults on police, looting and damage to public buildings, saying there have been at least 272 arrests nationwide.

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French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu took a more direct approach than Macron, saying the student movement has been "instrumentalized by the allies of France Unbowed (LFI)... for electoral reasons." The left-wing LFIs presidential candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, even participated in one of the Paris protests this week, while LFI councilors, deputies, and mayors have joined student blockades in multiple cities.

Elections to replace the term-limited Macron are set for April and May, and opposition parties have seized upon the ongoing unrest. Leading candidate Marine Le Pen, of the conservative National Rally party, has voiced support for the police, blaming students for any violence.

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Meanwhile, students, unions, rights groups and parents have accused the police of using excessive force against the students.

According to the AFP, the interior ministry has opened internal investigations into 36 allegations of police officer violence against demonstrators. But the national police union, Alliance Police Nationale, says it has filed a lawsuit against the government for "putting lives in danger" over what it called "contradictory orders" given to officers deployed in the protests.

The Alliance says officers felt "betrayed, abandoned, left to fend for themselves" by their political leaders because of their "unclear instructions" and what they said were public expressions of "empathy towards the rioters."

"This is the country of the French Revolution. Everyone boasts about it," police officer and union representative Walid Hrar told The Associated Press. "Some political parties dont hesitate to say that we need to disobey the law. Thats what Robespierre and other revolutionaries taught us in 1789."

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