Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended

May Day protests: Hundreds arrested across Europe as demonstrations turn violent

Mass rallies, strikes and violence in towns and cities from Sweden to Turkey

Tom Batchelor
Wednesday 01 May 2019 17:07 BST
Comments
Tear gas thrown at May Day rally in Paris

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested across Europe as May Day protests turned violent.

European capitals from Paris to Moscow and Copenhagen to Athens saw mass rallies, strikes and violence on the streets.

French police clashed with stone-throwing protesters who set fires and smashed up vehicles as thousands of people gathered for May Day rallies under tight security.

Neo-nazis scuffled with police in Sweden while in Greece a mass-walkout crippled public transport.

The global day of action saw people take to the streets in dozens of Asian and African capitals, with cities in North and South America also braced for disruption later on Wednesday.

A union rally in London was carried off peacefully and police there said they were not expecting significant demonstrations or violence.

Follow all the action and reaction in our liveblog below.

We are now ending our rolling coverage of the May Day protests around the world. Thank you for reading.

Tom Batchelor1 May 2019 17:06

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in