May Day protests turn violent in Paris

May Day protests turn violent in Paris

May Day protests in Paris have erupted into violence as police met demonstrators with tear gas in the city’s Vavin neighbourhood, Euronews reports.

French police said it had made 165 arrests by early afternoon and had conducted more than 9,000 searches.

Heightened security has been put in place across Paris for this year’s demonstrations amid ongoing tension with the gilets jaunes movement, and climate protesting.

It’s feared that hooligans bent on violence in the French capital will join the “gilets jaunes”, as trade unionists, students and others turn out to mark International Workers’ Day.

President Emmanuel Macron’s recent promise of tax cuts and other reforms have been rejected in some quarters.

France’s second city of Lyon, where police fired tear gas after being hit by projectiles at Place Bellecour.