French school protests widen into a third day of riots

Mass rioting in France has continued for a third day. More than 2000 people have been arrested. More than 735 schools have been shut. Hundreds of people have been reported injured.

Riot police have clashed with protesters in Paris, Montpellier, Nantes, and Marseille. Justice minister Gerald Darmanin said the events had moved from high-school student demonstrations to a public-order disturbance. He urged an immediate end to the violence. Those four cities are the ones named for the clashes.

Government ministers, including education minister Edouard Geffray, have accused the far left of inciting the unrest. Intelligence agencies briefing a crisis meeting accused the left-wing party La France Insoumise of actively inciting people to join the protests. Those accusations are part of the government account. The protests are described as youth-led.

The arrest figure is more than 2000. The school-closure figure is more than 735. The injury description is hundreds. The duration at the time of this report is a third day.

Darmanin is the justice minister who called for an immediate end to violence. Geffray is the education minister named among those blaming the far left. La France Insoumise is the party named in the intelligence briefing described by the government. The cities of clashes include the capital and three other cities.

The recorded public-order facts are the third day, the arrests, the school closures, and the injuries. The recorded political response is the ministerial accusation and the call to stop. The party named by the briefing is La France Insoumise. The unrest grew out of student demonstrations, according to the justice minister description.