Student Protests Escalate into Clashes at Paris’s Sciences PO

PARIS (10-07) – As student strikes spread across France, the prestigious public research university Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) became the scene of a standoff and clashes between students and police on October 7. The confrontation during an early-morning demonstration in support the ongoing high school students strike began after demonstrators blockaded both ends of the street outside the institution’s building.

Riot police blockaded access to the building’s entrance while surrounded by students on either side who demonstrated their support for solidarity with high school students by loudly chanting and clapping in unison, calling for educational reforms and blockades. After more than an hour, a tense standoff ensued as a new group of riot squad police arrived and attempted to intervene by disbursing the protesters.

Within the crowd of several hundred students were signs referring to long overdue educational reforms telling policymakers that “You turn our golden youth into failed youth. For your safety you will no longer have liberties,” while beckoning others with “Don’t look at us, join us.” Ironically, too, on a nearby lamppost where all the action was taking place was a movie poster for “L’Espéce Explosive” the Explosive Species.

As additional police came on scene, the students’ resolve to stand firm in the face of force only increased and was soon buttressed when unexpectedly three elected officials wearing their red, white and blue écharpe (sash) arrived in support much to the crowd’s delight. Afterwards, the police were booed by the crowd as they withdrew from the area and regrouped a short distance away.

The students then moved into the busy Boulevard Saint Germain, standing shoulder to shoulder with interlocked arms while others began building a blockade made up of makeshift objects, stopping passing traffic and causing a nightmare disruption to traffic attempting to enter or leave the area in central Paris.

Once the blockade was established, the crowd began to grow when a large group of arriving high school students joined in. It was then that police made a second attempt to disperse the crowd by deploying tear gas, briefly forcing demonstrators to retreat. As the gas dissipated, they returned and resumed their blockade. Police later stated that they didn’t have any orders on how to deal with the youth at the demonstration so they employed their usual protocol in dealing with the peaceful action. This while the schools have demanded “concrete” answers.

Police then marched into the crowd at the blockade as the three elected officials put their bodies between the demonstrators and police attempting to quell any further violence when police began physically forcing everyone back using their shields and pepper spray to disperse the crowd. Other police busily began dismantling the barricade to reopen the boulevard, a major artery in one of the city’s most exclusive and historic neighborhood.

With escalating confrontations now happening daily, and students having awoken to the power of their resistance in forcing change, this growing crisis will likely continue until the government commits to the demands of students in ensuring their educational goals of a more equitable and fully funded system are realized. Until then the crisis is bound to spill over further into French society.

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

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