France student riots spread as 2,000 arrested across major cities

Violent student unrest intensified across France on Friday as riot police clashed with teenagers in several cities, roughly 400 high schools remained shuttered and authorities said some 2,000 people had been arrested since the protests began — while the government increasingly blamed the country’s hard left.

Tear gas filled streets in Strasbourg, protesters fired fireworks toward police lines in Marseille and garbage bins were set ablaze in Rennes, while clashes also broke out in Paris, Reuters reported Friday. The latest violence marks a sharp escalation from the unrest reported by Fox News Digital Thursday, when hundreds had been arrested as school blockades and clashes spread across the country.

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told RTL radio Friday that approximately 2,000 people — most of them teenagers — had been arrested since the protests erupted. He said parents whose children damage property should be required to pay reparations, according to Reuters.

“In the streets, the children are in danger,” Education Minister Édouard Geffray told BFM TV.

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Euronews reported Friday that at least 65 school staff members, including 40 principals, have been injured since the unrest began, along with roughly 170 students. More than 100 high schools have suffered what Geffray described as “severe damage.”

The protests began over complaints about overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, long school days and deteriorating facilities. Students have blamed years of underinvestment for conditions inside schools, as the government unveiled its draft 2027 budget Thursday. Under the proposal, education spending would rise 1.7% to 65.53 billion euros, excluding teacher pensions — an increase below the rate of inflation, according to Reuters.

But as the protests have grown more violent, the unrest has also become a major political fight.

French intelligence agencies told a government crisis meeting Thursday that the protest movement had been initiated by politicians from the hard-left France Unbowed party, known as LFI, Reuters reported Friday.

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LFI lawmakers rejected the allegation and accused President Emmanuel Macron’s government of politicizing the protests ahead of France’s 2027 presidential election.

Le Monde reported Friday that Geffray accused LFI of fueling the initial demonstrations before saying the movement had been “taken hostage by ultra-left groups.” LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has denied responsibility for the violence.

Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, senior envoy to Europe at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the unrest began with legitimate concerns but has since evolved into something far more serious.

“The students’ grievances about missing teachers and deteriorating schools were real at first,” Rodan-Benzaquen said. “But dousing a principal in gasoline and attacking firefighters are acts of extreme violence. What makes this politically significant is the effort to turn frustration over schools into a much broader confrontation with the government.”

The protests are quickly becoming a major issue in the campaign to succeed Macron next May, with Mélenchon denouncing the government’s response as repressive. Rodan-Benzaquen said LFI has “actively supported the mobilization,” adding that “activists circulate footage of clashes, party accounts amplify it and elected officials present themselves as the students’ defenders.”

“With an election next year,” she said, “Mélenchon sees these mobilizations as a way to consolidate young voters and marginalize the moderate left. At a time of deep political, geopolitical and economic challenges, this is a very dangerous situation for France.”

Marine Le Pen also accused LFI of playing a direct role in the unrest. “This is no longer about high school student protests. It is about riots organized by professionals and overseen by deputies from La France Insoumise,” Le Pen wrote on X in a translated post. “We must pass a new anti-rioters law so that participation in a riot is a clearly identified offense.”

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The government has now deployed specialized riot police and mobile gendarmes as authorities struggle to contain the unrest, Le Monde reported.

The government’s response is also drawing scrutiny. Students and rights groups have accused police of excessive force against minors, including the use of batons, tear gas and non-lethal weapons. Amnesty International warned against excessive force, while France’s Interior Ministry said Friday that three investigations into alleged police violence had been opened, according to Reuters.

The unrest may also be beginning to spread beyond France. Students in Liège, Belgium, began demonstrating Thursday, and high schools there were closed Friday.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the French government, the Education Ministry, the Interior Ministry and La France Insoumise for comment but did not receive responses in time for publication.

Tyler Speicher and Reuters contributed to this story.