French police fired a water cannon and tear gas at Place de la Bastille in Paris on Thursday after part of a student crowd threw paving stones, street furniture, and fireworks at officers. The Paris prefecture said the cannon was used to keep violent people at a distance after more than an hour of attacks. Riot police also charged the square with batons. A water cannon was used in Rennes as well.
The protests are a nationwide high-school movement over education funding, teacher shortages, crowded classes, and rundown buildings. Most participants are under 18. It began in late September and has drawn parents, teachers, and unions. The interior ministry counted about 71,500 demonstrators on Thursday, including roughly 24,500 in Paris, down from about 266,000 on Tuesday. School blockades also fell: 224 high schools were closed in the morning and 157 by lunch, so about 95–96 percent were at least partly open. More than 6,600 people have been arrested since the protests started, mostly minors.
That is containment, not an end. The cannon cleared parts of the Bastille; it did not empty the demonstration. Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said the square had been "retaken," and student unions called more national days for October 13 and October 17. Leaders dismissed the education ministry's promises as "hot air." One Paris student said they would keep going into November or December if needed. The police response is now one of the grievances — a circulating banner reads "too young to be listened to, old enough to be tear-gassed." An Elabe poll for BFM TV found 72 percent of French people think the students' complaints are legitimate, while 55 percent want the protests to stop.
The cannons and mass arrests are cutting turnout and limiting street violence. They have not quashed the movement.