A video showing the mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, standing in front of police officers during a school pupils’ demonstration in Paris, trying to protect young protesters from the intervention of the security forces, is circulating widely on social media.

In the footage, the mayor raises his voice at the officers, repeatedly shouting ‘stop’, as he stands between the police and the pupils.

Bagayoko, a member of the radical left party La France Insoumise (LFI), told Reuters on Wednesday that he went to the demonstration to support pupils from the working-class district he runs, in the northern suburbs of the French capital.

He said he was trying to prevent a police charge against those gathered. ‘They had decided to attack and, in effect, chase down the pupils, many of whom had shown no aggressive behaviour whatsoever towards the officers,’ he said from his office in Saint-Denis town hall.

According to the mayor, police ultimately used tear gas against the group of protesters, leaving him among those affected.

Bally Bagayoko tente de calmer la tension lors de la manifestation lycéenne et étudiante à Paris. https://t.co/rbg45G7yu6

— Enzo Rabouy (@enzorabouyy) October 6, 2026

More than 6,000 arrests and dozens injured

The pupils’ riots, which began in the suburbs of Paris, have continued for more than two weeks and have become one of the most significant flashpoints of social tension in France, about six months before the presidential election that will mark Emmanuel Macron’s departure from the Élysée Palace.

Since the demonstrations began in France, there have been more than 6,000 arrests, and dozens of pupils have been injured in clashes with police.

Human rights organisations and trade unions have denounced excessive use of force by police, including against minors. They cite the use of batons, tear gas and special launchers firing rubber projectiles.

The French authorities, for their part, say hundreds of police officers have been injured during the unrest, and that there have been arson attacks and acts of vandalism at schools, as well as assaults on teachers and members of the public.

Saint-Denis, where poverty rates are more than double the national average, was one of the first areas to see pupil unrest, in late September. The protests began with core demands for better school infrastructure, an end to overcrowded classrooms, basic standards of hygiene and a solution to staff shortages.

Pupils also condemn stark inequalities in access to education, particularly in the country’s poorer areas.

‘Protests are nothing new here. They happen at the start of every school year,’ said Bagayoko, stressing that conditions in the area reflect wider social problems.

‘The Republic’s promise of equality is not being kept, particularly in working-class districts, but also in rural areas,’ he said.

The mayor called on the government to prioritise public investment in education, and proposed raising taxes on billionaires as a way of boosting state revenue.

A father of four, he said he considers it both a personal and an institutional duty to stand alongside young people who take to the streets.

‘The sixth-formers out on the street could have been my own children. It is my responsibility to stand beside them,’ he said.