French high school pupils clash with police in Paris anti-election demo

Black-clad demonstrators who had broken off from the march of around 1,000 students hurled bottles at police who responded with tear gas.

The march was called by student groups opposed to both business-friendly centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right Marine Le Pen, who face off in the May 7 vote.

Protesters smashed storefronts and set rubbish bins alight while some waved signs that said “Neither the banker, nor the racist”, referring to Macron and Le Pen respectively.

Photo: AFP

“I don't agree with either of them. I think it's a matter of choosing between the lesser of two evils,” 17-year-old student Jacques, who declined to give has surname, told AFP.

“If I was old enough to vote, I'd have to do it wearing gloves,” he added. In separate, primarily anti-Le Pen protests, students partially or fully blocked off the entrances to several Paris high schools.