![Paris Evening: Fires and Plunder of Pensions [Video] on Thursday](https://i0.wp.com/www.letelegramme.fr/images/2023/03/23/retraites-saccages-et-incendies-ce-jeudi-soir-a-paris-video_7379463_1000x526.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "Paris Evening: Fires and Plunder of Pensions [Video] on Thursday")
At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, 30 people had been arrested, mainly for carrying prohibited weapons and participating in a group to commit damage and violence, according to the police headquarters.
Shortly before 8 p.m., the demonstrators left the Place de l’Opéra, the place of arrival of the demonstration. But incidents were still in progress in the surrounding streets, with, in particular, trash cans or newspaper kiosks set on fire. According to AFP, the police were carrying out charges.
Other small groups of demonstrators marched towards the Les Halles district, setting fire to garbage cans on their way.
According to the police headquarters, “about a thousand” radical elements were present in the demonstration on Thursday afternoon. Throughout the parade, starting from the Place de la Bastille, these people, dressed in black and equipped with masks and glasses, degraded several mini-markets, fast food restaurants and banks.
Paving stones and bottles against tear gas
They threw numerous cobblestones, bottles and at least one incendiary projectile at the police, who repeatedly used tear gas. Several trash cans and scooters were also set on fire. “An incendiary device was thrown into a bank on boulevard de Bonne-Nouvelle,” said the police headquarters. The police intervened, leading several charges, with the aim of “breaking up the block”, added this source.
Demonstrating and voicing disagreements is a right.
The violence and degradation we have witnessed today is unacceptable.All my gratitude to the police and rescue forces mobilized.
— Élisabeth BORNE (@Elisabeth_Borne) March 23, 2023
At least one injured protester was taken care of by firefighters. And “at least one police officer was injured after being shot in the head,” said a police source. “He is conscious and has been taken care of,” said the prefecture.
Record mobilization in Paris
During this 9th day of inter-union mobilization against the pension reform, participation broke a record in Paris, with 119,000 demonstrators, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The CGT has counted 800,000 demonstrators in the capital; the firm Occurrence – which carried out a count for a collective of media, including AFP -, “at least 83,000”.
