Violent Paris protests draw 70K people as Molotov cocktails hurled at cops, US and Israeli flags burned

Fierce protests erupted across Europe Saturday evening as the most violent rioters in France threw Molotov cocktails at military police, broke into homes and set US and Israeli flags on fire.

The clashes in Paris, which started at Porte de Bagnolet and drew at least 70,000 people, exploded after the march reached its end point at Porte de Charenton, with police attempting to disperse the crowd with tear gas, water cannons and mortar fire  – and protesters responding by tossing projectiles at them.

An incendiary device thrown at police set an officer’s leg on fire and was captured in startling images – before it was extinguished. 

“Our unit was attacked violently by several rioters in a very sudden way,” the unnamed officer said in a phone call with French channel LCI.

“The intensity was extraordinary, there wasn’t any kind of gradual buildup to the violence … it degenerated.”

Several cops were injured by the flames and had to back away from their position, with some hiding behind the gates of a school, where they evacuated students who had barricaded themselves inside.

“These criminals want to see the blood of police officers spilled, and they’re relentless about it,” slammed right-wing politician Matthieu Valet, a French member of the European Parliament, on X.

“Behind every uniform, there’s a life, a family. How many tragedies will it take for this to stop?”

Police blamed “a hard core of several hundred rioters” at the rear of the march, who attacked officers with projectiles, including a Molotov cocktail, according to Le Monde.

“Unacceptable violence is being committed against law enforcement,” the National Gendarmerie wrote on X.

A Tesla car was set ablaze and protesters — some dressed as clowns and witches for the Halloween march — shined lasers to try to blind police. 

The protest, which police had tried to keep away from the city center, spread to the Place de la Bastille, with police there charging at demonstrators, chasing them on foot as tear gas was deployed and more fires began to rage. 

Hundreds marched to the historic square, despite the ban on protesting there. Police began beating several protesters with batons, with one’s back reportedly bleeding.

In Marseilles, where some 10,000 showed up, rioters broke into homes, surveillance cameras were set on fire and projectiles were thrown at police.

About a dozen demonstrators are seen entering an apartment building and rushing up the staircase in footage shared on social media.

In Lyon, militants burned an American and Israeli flag on the roof tram shelter.

Three rioters, dressed in all black and wearing goggles and face coverings, can be seen stomping on the flags before starting a fire, as the raucous crowd applauds and chants “Israel, assassins.”

And in Bordeaux where 11,000 came out, a pinata of French President Emmanuel Macron with a pointy nose and mouth full of cash was savagely attacked by a protester dressed in black and wearing a boar facemask, as the crowd cheered and chanted “Macron, resignation.”

It rained fake banknotes at Place de la Victoire after the piñata was crushed by the demonstrators marching against the rising cost of living, according to social media video shared by newspaper Le Figaro.

An estimated 320,000 protested across France, according to the Interior Ministry, with police making 511 arrests nationwide so far and 70,000 police deployed.The French government blamed far-left extremist groups for attacks on law enforcement, pointing to an “extraordinary” level of violence, and described throwing a Molotov cocktail at a riot police officer in Paris as an “attempted murder.” “We are fully prepared for those looking for confrontation,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez threatened.1.7K

Outside of France, Germany also erupted into clashes with police as the protests spread elsewhere in Europe. 

In Frankfurt, protesters pelted police with stones and firecrackers, injuring several officers, while in Hamburg, they set barricades alight. And a march in Cologne was shut down after stone throwing and fireworks.

In Albania, masked assailants hurled Molotov cocktails and stones at police in Tirana, set trash bins ablaze and used slingshots to fire rocks, as police responded with water cannons.