May 1 demonstrations: arrests, number of participants… look back at this day of mobilization

La manifestation à Paris ce 1er mai. MAXPPP – Vincent Isore

Ce mercredi 1er mai 2024, de nombreuses manifestations ont été recensées en France. On fait un point sur les chiffres de la journée.

May 1, Labor Day, is an important day of mobilization in France. An opportunity for many French people and unions to take to the streets and make various demands heard, notably for wages and for peace.

How many demonstrators?

There were 121,000 demonstrators in France, according to figures provided by the Ministry of the Interior. A figure obviously contested by the CGT which claims to have counted "more than 200 000" people throughout the country, indicates France Info.

In Paris, where the mobilization is generally strongest, the trade union center announced 50,000 people, according to the police headquarters, the procession numbered 18,000 demonstrators.

The main parades were held this morning in the main big cities such as Nice, Marseille and Strasbourg.

Tensions in Paris

If France has experienced larger and more violent mobilizations in recent months, this Wednesday some tensions were noted with the police, particularly in Lyon and in the capital.

More than twenty individuals were arrested today, on the sidelines of the demonstrations, in France. But it was in Paris that the most violent clashes broke out. At least 45 people were arrested, the prefecture told BFMTV. During these tensions, no less than 12 gendarmes and police officers were injured and transported to hospital in relative urgency, specifies the news channel.

At the start of the evening, the police dispersed the demonstrations in certain places in the capital. If the situation appears calm, these figures could change further in the coming hours.

Glucksmann vs Mélenchon

The head of the PS and Place publique list in the European elections Raphaël Glucksmann was prevented from joining the May 1st procession in Saint-Étienne after paint throwing and invectives from a few dozen activists,

"These people are not Democrats. We see it in their violence", declared Raphaël Glucksmann shortly after the incident, saying "sure that&rsquo ;there were flags of France Insoumise" among the people who insulted him.

Je ne suis pas d'accord avec l'expulsion de Raphaël Glucksmann du cortège où il était. Mais il aurait dû réfléchir à deux fois avant d'accuser LFI.

Hier soir, 40 fascistes ont essayé de s'en prendre à Rima Hassan.

Les indignations à géométrie variable, ça suffit !#1erMai pic.twitter.com/UMK9oMex9o

— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) May 1, 2024

Jean-Luc Mélenchon responded on his X account (ex-Twitter) and indicated that he disagreed with this expulsion, before asking Raphaël Glucksmann to " respect his adversaries", who had continued to accuse the elected LFI during the day.