The smoke of burning buildings, trash and even one unfortunate police officer perfumed the air on May Day in France. It’s officially springtime in Paris, but whether the promise of a new harvest will bear any ripe fruit for President Emmanuel Macron remains doubtful as the revolt against his neo-liberal regime continues to rage.
As people across Europe danced around the Maypole to mark the coming of Spring after another harsh winter mired by economic deprivation, the people of France did their own form of traditional dance, that of rioting against an out-of-touch government behind the walls of a palace.
A protestor throws a tear gas canister during a demonstration against pension reform on Boulevard Voltaire in central Paris, France, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images
While it isn’t at all uncommon for French radicals to riot on the First of May, which also marks the socialist International Workers’ Day, the scale of the protests across the country demonstrates the continued anger among the people at the government of Emmanuel Macron. The President, who rather than focussing on how to solve the inflation, energy, and general cost of living crises facing the people chose to use considerable political capital to pass an increase to the pension age without a vote, is broadly seen as being guilty of an undemocratic attack on the working class by the ruling elite class to which Macron belongs.
PARIS, FRANCE – 2023/05/01: (EDITORS NOTE: Image contains profanity) A protester with an Emmanuel Macron mask makes a hand gesture while waiting for the rally to start. (Photo by Andy Barton/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Compared to last year, when just 116,500 citizens marched throughout France on May Day, official Ministry of Interior figures estimate that some 782,000 poured out onto the streets on Monday, with some 112,000 in Paris, alone. The numbers are a clear sign that the protests against Macron do not appear to be going anywhere anytime soon, despite the ‘Jupiterean’ leader’s pleas to the public to give him 100 days to turn around the ship — to which the unions in return promised “100 days of anger”.
Affrontements sur la place de la Nation. Les forces de l’ordre reçoivent de nombreux tirs de feux d’artifice #1ermai #ReformeDesRetraites pic.twitter.com/nQfdPM5wHY
— QG le média libre (@LibreQg) May 1, 2023
PARIS, FRANCE- MAY 01: Protesters take part in a Labor and Solidarity Day demonstration on May 1, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Onur Coban/ dia images via Getty Images)
According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, at least 108 police officers and gendarmes were injured during the heated protests, with 19 officers in Paris being hospitalised. In one grim instance, one officer in riot gear suffered burns to his face and arms after he was set on fire by a Molotov cocktail thrown by a radical.
Protesters weren’t immune to injury either, with reports of “dozens” of hospitalizations and one member of the public having their hand blown off by a police stun grenade in Nantes, reports the Telegraph.
Des policiers prennent feu après le jet d’un cocktail molotov. Affrontements très intenses à Paris@LucAuffret pour @LibreQg#ReformesDesRetraites #1ermai pic.twitter.com/9TjoNryQDV
— QG le média libre (@LibreQg) May 1, 2023
#Paris, la police est débordée, un engin incendiaire a explosé. Des CRS sont touchés par les flammes. #1erMai #fetedutravail #ReformeDesRetraites #manifs1ermai #manifestation #manifestations #manif1ermai pic.twitter.com/PdqRQbibHZ
— Jules Ravel (@JulesRavel1) May 1, 2023
In total, the ministry recorded 300 demonstrations throughout France. There were at least 291 arrests, including 111 in Paris, and some 2,000 radicals identified by the police.
PARIS, FRANCE – MAY 1: Protests continue on Labour Day against the government’s pension reform in Paris, France on May 1, 2023. Photo by Firas Abdullah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Darmanin claimed that the sheer number of officers being injured during a May 1st protest was “extremely rare” and that he “strongly condemned the violence.” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne — who has become a target of anger amongst the public for her role in invoking the constitutional loophole to pass through the retirement age raise without a vote — also condemned the “unacceptable scenes of violence” on Monday.
PARIS, FRANCE – MAY 1: A building on fire during a protest on International Workers’ day against the government’s pension reform in Paris, France on May 1, 2023. (Photo by Ibrahim Ezzat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Marine Le Pen, the leader of the right-wing populist National Rally (RN) party, went further in her criticism of the violent street radicals, saying: “We are no longer facing violence, but facing assassination attempts against the police. As for the arsonists of residential buildings, they must be brought before the Court of Assizes.”
Nouveau départ de feu à Paris dans l’immeuble où un énorme incendie s’est déclaré tout à l’heure #1ermai #ReformeDesRetaites pic.twitter.com/eXatHdzWYe
— QG le média libre (@LibreQg) May 1, 2023
The fires the former presidential candidate — who has surged in the polls over the past month — was referring to occurred near the Place de la Nation circle. According to police, two cans of petrol were found at the site of the fire, which saw a residential building ablaze and was only quelled by the deployment of water cannons off the back of a police truck. Later a dock for public hire bicycles was also set on fire just metres away.
TOPSHOT – A bicycle-sharing station is burning during a demonstration on May Day (Labour Day), to mark the international day of the workers, more than a month after the government pushed an unpopular pensions reform act through parliament, in Paris, on May 1, 2023. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images)
Elsewhere, tensions also boiled over in Lyon, where at least 40 members of “violent groups” were arrested. Police identified at least 1,000 black block Antifa-style radicals, who set fires to at least four cars, and vandalised bus shelters, shops, banks, and insurance and real estate agencies. Some 29 people were also arrested in Nantes, where agitators set fire to at least two cars, and injured 24 police officers and gendarmes.
A Lyon, une voiture a été incendiée par les casseurs à l’angle de l’avenue Jean Jaurès et de la rue Montesquieu. Les pompiers arrivent sous les applaudissements des manifestants #Manif1erMai #Lyon pic.twitter.com/N3H5fQFYXL
— actu Lyon (@actufr_lyon) May 1, 2023
For his part, Mr Macron did not address the rampant violence befalling his country on Monday but merely posted a picture of himself and his wife alongside workers of the Élysée Palace, with the message: “You get up early to feed us. You promote the know-how of our territories. You contribute to our sovereignty. On this May 1st, to all the workers, thank you.”
Perhaps the workers of France would appreciate the flowery message more if the president was spending his time working on increasing their wages or lowering the cost of bread, rather than jet setting around the world to attend globalist conferences and raising their retirement age without a vote as if he were a king…
Une effigie d’Emmanuel Macron incendiée par les manifestants à Strasbourg (@GuillaumeKrempp) #ReformeDesRetraites #1erMai #manifs1ermai #manifestation #fetedutravail #manifestations #manif1ermaipic.twitter.com/KMsD334X24
— Anonyme Citoyen (@AnonymeCitoyen) May 1, 2023
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