Violent agitators battled riot police in the streets of Paris Wednesday, as May Day and Labor Day protests took place around the world.
While some demonstrators assembled peacefully, photos show Black Bloc anarchists decked out in black garb and balaclavas instigating violence against police, lobbing objects and fireworks at them from makeshift barricades.
“The confrontations broke out near the start of the main May Day march near Montparnasse train station and started again at the end of the route near the Place d’Italie in southeast Paris as police tried to disperse stragglers,” reports the UK’s Daily Mail.
Others vandalized storefronts and broke out nearby business windows.
In several photos smoke can be seen rising from tear gas canisters and various objects set on fire by demonstrators, as fire crews worked to put out blazes.
Several demonstrators and police were injured as a result of the clashes.
Paris was already the site of ongoing “Yellow Vest” demonstrations earlier this year, where citizens protested increased fuel prices and unfair tax burdens on the middle and working class.
The first of May, also known as International Workers Day or Labour Day, is typically recognized by leftists, Socialists, Marxists and Communists ostensibly to celebrate the preservation of workers’ rights.
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