Rioting broke out in Paris today as thousands gathered for May Day protests dubbed 'Armageddon' by extremist demonstrators.
Thugs from the so-called Black Bloc anti-capitalist movement were involved in running battles with police soon after 1pm and by 2pm, there had been 200 arrests in Paris, most for public order offences related to the rioting.
Clusters of anarchists and Yellow Vest protesters disrupted the May Day rallies in Paris by throwing rocks, setting rubbish cans on fire and antagonising police riot squads.
Officers used tear gas, flash grenades and rubber ball launchers as troublemakers wearing black masks and hoods confronted them in the street and pelted them with stones and other objects.
The confrontations broke out near the start of the main May Day march near Montparnasse train station and started again at the end of the route near the Place d'Italie in southeast Paris as police tried to disperse stragglers.
Black Bloc activists with their faces covered could be seen leading attacks on officers, and smashing up vehicles and shop fronts.
The worst early violence was outside La Rotonde, President Emmanuel Macron's favourite restaurant in Montparnasse.
'Black Bloc agitators were throwing stones and other missiles at us, and we had to charge,' said a CRS riot control officer of the French National Police at the scene.
'Tear gas has also been deployed to bring order to the situation. The situation is very tense.'
Many 'radical activists' more are expected to come from neighbouring countries including Britain, Germany and Italy to join in the mayhem.
There are fears that they will target public monuments, banks and high-end shops, while also threatening the kind of fires that have become common at protests.
This has led to the Champs Elysee – the most famous avenue in France – being closed, along with Paris's governmental and diplomatic districts.
The Ile de la Cite - the island where Notre Dame Cathedral is situated was also in lockdown following the blaze that almost destroyed it last month.
Weapons were also confiscated as the police used tear gas, rubber bullets and baton charges to try and restore order.
Huge parts of Paris were in lockdown as an unprecedented 7,400 police officers were drafted on to the streets.
Groups of masked and hooded protesters were seen causing damage and then merging with the much larger number of peaceful May Day marchers.
Some vandalised a parked van, kicking the vehicle and breaking its windows. Others set small fires to rubbish bins.
Tens of thousands of labour union and 'yellow vest' protesters were on the streets across France, days after Macron outlined a response to months of street protests including tax cuts worth around 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion).
The Russian Foreign Ministry alleged that French police used batons on the head and shoulder of a correspondent for state news agency RIA-Novosti, Viktoria Ivanova.
'We consider the use of violence against journalists in the exercise of their professional duties to be unacceptable,' the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The hard-left CGT union denounced police violence and said its secretary general had been tear-gassed.
'This current scenario, scandalous and unprecedented, is unacceptable in our democracy,' it said in a statement.
The sudden violence caught many marchers by surprise, with union members who were caught in the crossfire infuriated by what they claimed was an indiscriminate police crackdown.
One union member with tears in his eyes, referring to the momentous student-led protests in Paris that took place in 1968, said: 'I've never seen anything like it, not even in '68. It was outrageous.'
Yellow vest supporters joined the traditional May Day union march to show their common rejection of President Emmanuel Macron's economic policies, seen as favouring the wealthy and big business.
Macron last week tried to address the complaints of the yellow vest movement by announcing tax cuts for middle-class workers and an increase in pensions.
Philippe Martinez, secretary general of one of France's major trade unions, the CGT, temporarily left the march for security reasons during the scuffles between the anarchist protesters and police.
After rejoining the march, he stressed that yellow vest and union activists 'are marching together in all French cities'.
'That's a protest of workers who tell the government and the president of the republic: ''Change your policies,'' Martinez said of the support from the movement that started in November. 'We are very satisfied of the mobilisation.'
He later returned, visibly agitated, with sharp words of criticism for the police whom he accused of 'charging at well-identified union members'.
Signs held aloft during the march read 'Long live freedom, long live socialism,' 'Police, gendarmes, join us,' and 'What are we going to leave our children? Wake up.'
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