Paris turned into a rain-soaked battleground on Saturday, October 24, as French riot police charged at black-clad militants near the end of a massive demonstration. Video of the moment shows officers in full gear pushing through drifting tear gas smoke toward a group that, according to the account sharing it, was trying to assemble metal barriers to trap police inside a perimeter. That barrier-trap claim has not been confirmed by officials, but reports do confirm that police fired tear gas and used water cannon near the march's end point after some demonstrators threw bottles and rocks. Authorities put the Paris turnout at 110,000, part of roughly 410,000 people who took to the streets across France.

The march, driven by anger over school funding, rising living costs and inequality, was largely peaceful and had been confined to the city's southeastern edge under tight restrictions. Authorities said around 500 "rioters" clashed with officers, though they described the violence as less severe than the previous weekend. Heavy rain dampened the protest, which may help explain why the night saw fewer of the fires that marked earlier unrest. Paris prosecutors reported 64 arrests, and opposition leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused police of firing indiscriminately at protesters. With more demonstrations already being called, the big questions are who the militants really were, what they planned, and whether the heavy security response is calming the movement or fueling it.