France is no stranger to student demonstrations. The current ones turned violent particularly rapidly. That is in part because the populist left is egging them on https://www.economist.com/europe/2026/10/08/arson-at-the-school-gate-and-tear-gas-on-the-streets?taid=6acb2f487195f10001afd316&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter