France Detains Hundreds Amid Nationwide ‘Block Everything’ Protests

French police arrested hundreds of protesters Wednesday as “Block Everything” demonstrations erupted across the country, with crowds shutting down roads, lighting fires and clashing with authorities. 

The government’s interior ministry announced 295 arrests in the first hours of what was a planned day of nationwide demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron, budget cuts and other complaints. France’s government suffered a major setback Monday when Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a parliamentary confidence vote, forcing his resignation and replacement by Sébastien Lecornu. 

“One Prime minister has just been ousted and straight away we get another from the right,” student Baptiste Sagot, 21, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “They’re trying to make working people, young students, retirees, all people in difficulty, bear all the effort instead of taxing wealth.” 

Groups of protesters who repeatedly tried to block Paris’ beltway during the morning rush hour were dispersed by police using tear gas. Elsewhere in the capital, protesters piled up trash cans and hurled objects at police officers. Firefighters were called to the downtown Châtelet neighborhood after a fire broke out in a restaurant, threatening to spread to an adjacent building. 

A protester is seen clashing with a police officer in Paris, France, on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Jerome Gilles/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The “Bloquons Tout,” or “Block Everything,” movement gathered momentum over the summer on social media and in encrypted chats, according to the AP.  

Its call for a day of blockades, strikes, boycotts, demonstrations and other acts of protest came as Bayrou was preparing plans to massively slash public spending by $51 billion to rein in France’s growing deficit and trillions in debts.  

Protesters gather to block the Cadix viaduct during the “Block Everything” protests in Caen, France, on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images)

Macron had appointed Bayrou in December following a slew of resignations over the year when three other prime ministers left the top job.  

Multiple reports on Monday noted that by the end of the first quarter of 2025, France’s public debt equated to 114% of its GDP. 

Protesters of the “Block Everything” movement take cover from a water canon behind an umbrella in Lille, in northern France, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.  (AP/Jean-Francois Badias)

Around 80,000 police were deployed across France on Wednesday to handle the protests, the AP reported.