French Courts Uphold Macron Pension Reform, France Erupts in Violence (VIDEO) | The Gateway Pundit

French President Emmanuel Macron has advocated raising the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 and French citizens have been in awe.

Since mid-January, the country has faced repeated nationwide strikes and riot police have faced increasing violence.

France’s National Assembly has rejected a vote of no confidence in the government of Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, following the massive protests.

Macron was forced to appear on television to ask the population for “calm” at the end of March to no avail. Protests, blockades and clashes intensified as around 3.5 million people took to the streets against Macron’s pension reform “by decree”.

On Friday, the scorned reforms were approved by the Constitutional Council and large-scale protests began almost immediately and turned violent.

The Daily Mail reports:

Police used tear gas in Lyon and Strasbourg and water cannon in Paris to control the streets, while protesters set fires, built barricades and launched flares in the center of the capital.

Officers were seen charging through the streets of cities across France as they battle protesters angry at the reforms. In Nantes, a police station was briefly set on fire by rioters before being extinguished.

Police used tear gas in Lyon and Strasbourg and water cannon in Paris to control the streets, while protesters set fires, built barricades and launched flares in the center of the capital.

Officers were seen charging through the streets of cities across France as they battle protesters angry at the reforms. In Nantes, a police station was briefly set on fire by rioters before being extinguished.

Protesters march through central Paris, with 3,000 people already gathered outside the town hall at 5 p.m. BST, according to French media.

Demonstrations are taking place in major French cities including Paris, Rennes, Toulouse, Lyon and Nantes.

In Paris, protesters threw flares and set bicycles on fire outside the town hall, prompting a major police response. Garbage cans and other objects were also set on fire in the city.

Some erected barricades in the streets of the capital, using metal sheets, garbage cans, wood and fire. A march approaches Place de la Bastille, where the infamous Bastille prison once stood.

Police arrested protesters, including a dozen youths who were photographed being held by officers with batons and tear gas.

In Nantes, bottles and other projectiles were thrown at the police by some demonstrators, forcing the police to respond with water cannons. Protesters are trying to disrupt major highways and trams by creating rows of burning trash cans.

Shortly after 8pm BST, a police station in Nantes was set on fire by protesters, with the entire entrance set on fire, before a water cannon was used to douse the flames.