The incident occurred on a central Paris street a few hundred metres from where law enforcement officers were staging a rally to vent frustration over near daily clashes with violent gangs on the fringes of protests against labour law reform.
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In the capital, protesting officers faced counter-protesters, who said the police themselves were instigating the violence, after which at least one police auto was set on fire.
“The attack on the police auto, which begins at around the 3’25” mark in the video below, came as police demonstrated across France against violence suffered at the hands of anti-government protesters in recent months.
But Mr Hollande has argued that the new law is necessary to boost hiring and investment.
Police have faced criticism, however, after videos surfaced showing officers using what many consider to be excessive force against protesters.
The Interior Ministry said some 68,000 people took part in Tuesday’s marches, compared to a tally of 55,000 for a May 12 protest – both sharply down from an estimated 390,000 who turned out at the end of March.
But Hollande said he placed the need to reform over his personal popularity even as he weighs a possible bid for re-election next year.
French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday that more than 350 police officers have been injured in clashes and 60 people have been convicted amid the labor reform protests.
But relations have frayed following months of the near-weekly anti-government protests, which have increasingly strained police resources at a time of unprecedented security threats and tight budgets.
Earlier in the day, President Hollande said he would not withdraw the labor market reforms, which have sparked two months of street protests. Truck drivers would also see their overtime pay cut.
Many unions and student groups say the reforms will do little to address France’s jobless rate and many employers fear they have been so watered down in the face of opposition that they will fail to have any effect.
Paris police chief Michel Cadot blamed the violence on 100-150 people, mainly ultra-leftists – a smaller number than in previous demonstrations.
Police officers, who won swathes of public approval after the Paris attacks past year, have said they under increasing strain with France’s ongoing state of emergency, terror threat and protests. “So it’s very complicated for police forces to isolate and arrest them”, Delage explained on BFM television. French police are taking to the streets to protest against what they describe as hatred directed at them.
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Police evacuated a FNAC consumer goods store in Nantes targeted by troublemakers.
