They were then joined by unions and the Yellow Vests, a popular movement born in 2018 as a revolt against fuel taxes.
These demonstrations appear to have inspired similar protests across the continent, with protests erupting in Belgium, Spain, Italy and elsewhere.
In Germany, protests were organized on Saturday by the campaign group Gen Z regelt (Generation Z Takes Charge) in more than 30 cities, including the capital Berlin and the financial hub Frankfurt.
The groups demand spending on schools, climate protection and housing and oppose a return to compulsory military service.
“We all have these images of France in our minds – looting, burning houses, burning police vehicles and attacks on police officers,” said Roman Poseck, interior minister of the state of Hesse, whose capital is Frankfurt.
Protesters gathered outside the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, as police announced that 1,500 additional officers would be deployed across the city.
While most people gathered peacefully, some protests turned violent Saturday evening.
In downtown Frankfurt, rioters destroyed several storefronts and stole merchandise inside. They also stole weapons from a gun store, which police were later able to recover. Some rioters also threw Molotov cocktails at police after hitting them with stones and bottles earlier in the day, Frankfurt police said on X.
Elsewhere in Europe, a huge tent encampment has occupied a square in Madrid since late last month, and thousands of people in Portugal took to the streets of the city of Lisbon. Tear gas and water cannons were also used against black-clad protesters in Brussels.
In the United Kingdom, hundreds of protesters are expected to gather outside the U.S. Embassy in London on Saturday and risk arrest in support of Palestine Action, a protest group banned by the British government.
In Serbia, student activism also helped unseat the country’s longtime leader at the polls.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government also announced it would deploy 500 troops alongside police in Milan until the end of the year after groups of masked protesters looted stores in the fashion capital and elsewhere and threw projectiles at police earlier this month.
Tens of thousands of people again took to the streets of Rome on Friday and other cities and towns across the country.
The protests were largely peaceful, but an NBC News crew saw police using a water cannon on demonstrators and groups of police charging to disperse demonstrators.
Italian police were out in force with riot squads, drones and helicopters visible in the capital’s skies.
“We’ve been completely screwed by the fact that salaries don’t keep up with inflation and salaries in general don’t keep up with the cost of living,” said Luca, a 20-year-old medical student who asked that his last name be withheld for fear of retaliation from law enforcement.
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