French riot police used water cannon and teargas on Tuesday against hundreds of hooded protesters after they smashed shop windows and hurled petrol bombs at the start of an annual May Day rally in Paris.

Police had warned on Monday of possible clashes with far-left anarchist groups, known as Black Blocs, after a call on social media to make Tuesday a “Revolutionary Day”.

Authorities said some 1,200 hooded and masked protesters dressed in black had turned up on the sidelines of the annual planned demonstration by labour unions.

Some participants smashed the windows of a McDonald’s restaurant and set furniture inside on fire as the demonstration in the French capital heated up.

Television cameras captured vandals overturning a car on Tuesday afternoon and setting it on fire.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb posted a tweet condemning the “violence and vandalism.”

During the march, workers and students waved anti-capitalist flags and brandished banners with phrases such as “Risks to Disrupting the Peace,” ”Let’s Derail the Government” and “Macron Gives Us a Dark Hatred.”

President Emmanuel Macron, elected last May on a promise to shake up France’s economy and spur jobs growth, is locked in a battle with the trade unions over his plans to liberalize labor regulations.

Organizers hope nationwide May Day protests will send a robust riposte to the centrist Macron’s plans to end some worker protections.

Source:dailysabah.com