Rósa Björk feels tear gas at Angers protest

Rósa Björk Brynjólfsdóttir, chair of the Left-Green Movement, witnessed protesters break into part of Angers city hall and cause damage on Saturday. She also felt the effects of tear gas used by police, mbl.is reported.

About 10,000 people took part in the protest, according to French authorities. Rósa said young people were prominent in the crowd. She had known the demonstration was planned but had not expected so many people to gather.

Rósa saw windows being broken and a group enter an office in the city hall and take papers. She also saw damage to bus shelters. She said the protest was mostly peaceful and stressed that only a small group took part in the vandalism.

“It was shocking to see this, to witness it and experience the tear gas,” she told mbl.is. She said she was not afraid while watching the protest, but moved aside when the gas affected her because she feared further exposure.

Rósa, who is visiting France, said the force used by police surprised her. She has previously taken part in protests in Iceland and France and said French police usually take a hard line. “This was much more than I expected,” she said.

She said friends who have lived in Paris for more than two decades had never experienced anything like the situation that developed on Saturday.

The demonstrations began over students’ dissatisfaction with conditions in schools, but grew into broader protests against the government and rising living costs. Protesters called for better living standards, lower food and fuel prices, and increased funding for education. They also protested against President Emmanuel Macron’s policies and the French government’s response to the war in Gaza.

Rósa said the students’ demands had received considerable public support in France.