Approximately 70,000 police officers are on the streets in France as authorities prepare for a fresh wave of demonstrations on Saturday after last week’s rioting which saw shops ransacked and public buildings attacked.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced the security response on Friday and said the officers would be helped by helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannons to avoid a repeat of the violence last weekend, Reuters reported.
“We will be unrelenting with rioters, with looters, with those who perpetrate violence,” Nuñez said to the press.
The protests, which were initiated by high school students seeking improved learning conditions, have grown into a wider movement expressing anger over increasing living costs and government policies.
Of the previous week, more than 500,000 people marched on the streets and some 3,000 shops in France were looted or vandalised, The Associated Press reports.
Protests have been banned in several cities. Major art museums including the Louvre in Paris will remain shut on Saturday, concerned they could be targeted by violence once again. Art Basel, a major international art fair, also called off its weekend programme.
Some demonstrations were scheduled to take place in Paris and Marseille, with others prohibited or restricted in some cities.
The unrest has challenged the government of President Emmanuel Macron to meet some of the protesters’ demands without further triggering violence.
