Two French ministers gave two totals for the high school protests on the same Friday, using different words over different spans. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin spoke of about 2,000 people in police custody since the movement began; Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez spoke of more than 5,000 “interpellations” since Monday. We found no page saying how the justice total was counted, and we have not added or reconciled them.
Two totals, different words
Darmanin told RTL radio on Friday that around 2,000 people had been “taken into police custody,” “90% of whom were minors” (CBS’s translation).
That evening Nuñez told TF1 there had been 1,747 interpellations on Friday alone and “more than 5,000 since Monday” (our translation of “plus de 5 000 depuis lundi”), franceinfo and ICI reported. Franceinfo reported that Nuñez put the minors’ share of those interpellated at 85%. The 90% and 85% shares come from different ministers using different wording; we found no page saying whether they describe the same people.
Nuñez himself treats interpellation and custody as separate steps. On BFMTV on Tuesday, Sept. 29, he said there had been 440 interpellations, that the full tally was not yet in, and that two thirds led to custody (“gardes à vue”) (our translation), franceinfo reported. CBS describes Darmanin’s roughly 2,000 as custody; we found no page saying how that total was counted.
The interior ministry’s daily counts
The daily interpellation figures we found: 164 on Monday, Sept. 28 (Nuñez); 440 on Tuesday (Nuñez, preliminary); 625 on Wednesday, Sept. 30 (ICI and CNN); 1,949 on Thursday, Oct. 1 (ICI, citing the interior ministry); and 1,747 on Friday (Nuñez on TF1). We have not totalled the daily figures: some were preliminary (Nuñez said Tuesday’s count was not yet complete).
The scale of the disruption
Al Jazeera, citing the Education Ministry, said at least 400 of 3,700 high schools were closed Friday, with 560 reporting protests or disruptions. Franceinfo, crediting Geffray, says 735 schools were disrupted, “30% de moins” (our translation: 30% fewer) than the day before; ici.fr, crediting Nuñez, gives 735 “concerned” with no baseline. Closed and disrupted appear to measure different things.
CNN reported 83 police officers injured (Nuñez, Wednesday) and, per government figures, 159 students and staff; ici.fr gave 119 students and staff at Wednesday’s press conference. We do not know whether the 159 is a later count. On Friday, Geffray told BFMTV that about 170 students and at least 65 staff, including 40 principals, had been injured, CBS reported.
What students say
Students blockading schools cite overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and dilapidated buildings, Reuters reported. “We are 35 per class, we don’t have enough chairs in classrooms,” said Kesia, 15, in Pantin. Student organisations, after meeting Geffray the same day, called for the mobilisation to continue on Tuesday, Oct. 6, ICI reported.
Police tactics and the LFI allegation
Reuters reported that students and rights groups accuse police of heavy-handed tactics against minors, including batons, tear gas and flash-ball guns. Asked about scenes of police arresting students, “sometimes violently,” Nuñez answered, in our translation: “I am doing my job, I am putting a stop to the abuses and the excesses, with proportionality,” franceinfo reported.
Reuters reported three investigations; ICI reported that the interior minister said five investigations were assigned to the national police inspectorate (IGPN). We do not know why the counts differ.
Reuters reported that intelligence agencies told a government crisis meeting Thursday that the movement had been initiated by politicians from the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI). Franceinfo instead attributes the accusation of an “organised manoeuvre” (our translation) to the prime minister’s services. Senior LFI lawmakers rebutted it; Manuel Bompard said the government was “descending into conspiracy theories,” CBS reported. None of the reports we read included evidence for the allegation.
The budget backdrop
Under the draft 2027 budget presented Thursday, the education budget would rise 1.7% to €65.53 billion, excluding teacher pensions, as Reuters reports. Reuters wrote that planned budget cuts “have fuelled the discontent.”
Figures are as reported through Friday evening, Oct. 2.