Thousands of people demonstrated across France on Saturday against rising living costs and police violence, with clashes in several cities punctuating otherwise largely peaceful marches, CBS News reported. The interior ministry put nationwide turnout at about 320,000, while police estimated that 70,000 people demonstrated in Paris.
In Lyon, officers fired tear gas after people threw projectiles at them, according to a journalist at the scene. Clashes also broke out in Marseille. Police in Toulouse deployed water cannon against an unauthorized demonstration attended by several thousand people, most of them young.
French authorities reported more than 560 arrests nationwide by Saturday night, according to The Associated Press, which contributed to the CBS report. Thousands had been arrested following riots and looting during marches on the two preceding Saturdays.
The atmosphere in Paris also included Halloween costumes as crowds walked through eastern neighborhoods beneath a circling helicopter. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the hard-left presidential candidate, joined the march. Some business owners, meanwhile, boarded up storefronts in anticipation of further unrest.
The movement brings together activists, unions and students. Its initial concerns included living costs, inequality and worsening learning conditions. CBS reported that demands expanded to civil liberties and protest rights after a security crackdown and serious injuries to some demonstrators. Student protesters said they planned further blockades of high schools and universities the following week.