French high school students set fires, hurled projectiles at police across the country on Friday, forcing the closure of 564 schools. The blaze damaged entrances at Leonard de Vinci and Gaston‑Bachelard in Paris while tear gas peppered crowds in Brest, Toulouse and Aubervilliers.
The protests, which began in September in the Paris region, have spread to cities like Brest, where police fired tear gas at Kerichen high school, and Belfort, where a 17‑year‑old was arrested after a crowd kicked a lone policeman to the ground. In Toulouse, students administered eye drops to each other after police used tear gas.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez called the violence "rare and intolerable" and said the policeman who was beaten is in stable condition. Education Minister Edouard Geffray accused the movement of being "held hostage by ultra‑violent fringe groups" and warned parents to keep their children away from the streets.
Simon, 15, from Turgot high school in central Paris, said the school has had no science teacher for a year and no textbooks. A mother in Aubervilliers, Anya, worries her teenage son might join the protest and has already barred him from going.
The government has ordered investigations into police conduct, said parents could be sued for damages and prosecutors have taken 2,000 people into custody—90 percent of them minors—while the next general election looms.