Student protests which began last month escalated significant on Saturday after they were joined by trade union members and other anti-government groups.
The response from political figures has pointed to France’s deep political divisions as the country prepares for an election in April which could see the hard-right pitted against the hard-left.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said that while demonstrating was a fundamental right, there were “outrages” committed by “several thousand far-left individuals” who were determined to target public buildings and confront the police.
Later, they were joined by “delinquents who looted and ransacked numerous businesses in several cities in France”, he said.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon – leader of the hard-left La France Insoumise party – heavily criticised Nuñez and police chiefs on social media.
He said they had “shown complete incompetence” with their handling of the demonstrations and called them “specialists in organised chaos”.
Meanwhile, the leader of the hard-right National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, condemned the “exploitation” of anger “by political forces that encourage violence”.