Paris prosecutors have opened an attempted murder investigation after petrol bombs were thrown at security forces during protests in the French capital on Saturday, in an attack that left an officer engulfed in flames.
The investigation was opened on Sunday for “attempted murder of persons vested with public authority,” prosecutors told AFP. Explosive projectiles were thrown at about 15 gendarmes as well as police officers at Porte de Charenton, where Saturday’s march ended. Photographs and video from AFP showed an incendiary device exploding at a gendarme’s feet and setting his protective equipment alight.
Prosecutors said reported injuries included second-degree burns and tinnitus, although the number and severity of injuries were still being established. No suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack, and investigators were working to identify those responsible. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described the attack as an attempted murder.
A third weekend of protests
The attack came at the end of a third weekend of protests over soaring living costs, deteriorating public services and education problems. Hundreds of thousands of people staged demonstrations across France on Saturday, with the interior ministry counting 320,000 demonstrators and organisers putting the figure far higher, at nearly 500,000, according to reports.
The Interior Ministry reported 779 arrests nationwide during the demonstrations and Halloween night — below the 1,314 recorded during the previous Saturday’s mobilisation and the 2,628 reported on October 17. Paris prosecutors separately reported 105 arrests in the capital: 88 linked to the demonstrations and 17 to Halloween night.
A wider European wave
The violence in Paris was part of a wider weekend of unrest across Europe, with youth-led protests in Germany turning violent in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Berlin, and anti-government demonstrations in Albania’s capital Tirana also ending in clashes. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said those responsible for the Paris firebomb attack must face the full force of the law. The gendarme struck by the Molotov cocktail told French television of the burns he suffered, describing the moment the device exploded at his feet.
