France in flames: 550,000 protesters take to the streets as Macron erupts, Let them come and get me!

Chaos exploded across France on Saturday as 550,000 protesters flooded the streets, torched cars and buildings, looted from posh stores including Louis Vuitton and Hermès, and even threatened to storm the Élysée Palace—prompting a defiant President Emmanuel Macron to rage: “Let them come and get me!”In Paris alone, an estimated 110,000 demonstrators took to the streets, with masked protestors backed by the country’s far-left opposition leader smashing storefronts, targeting luxury business and confronting riot police armed with tear gas and water cannons.Outside of the capital, French police say 140 protests are happening at the same time.Some protestors — dressed in black and wearing hoodies, masks and goggles to protect against tear gas — even threatened to storm the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the French president, as anger at Macron’s leadership reached a boiling point.The goal of the protesters is to push the government to make major spending concessions in the cost of living, as well as in higher education, teacher salaries, rising living costs, and to protect pensions and public services from budget cuts.And the violence extended far beyond the capital.In Lyon, the city’s tourism center was set ablaze.In Marseille and Lille, demonstrators reportedly broke into city halls.Inside Marseille’s municipal headquarters, vandals toppled a bust of Marianne, France’s national symbol, smashed television sets and spray-pained an anarchist emblem on a wall, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.Cars were torched, government buildings attacked and shops looted or targeted in cities including Paris, Rouen, Nantes, Toulouse and Marseille, said BFMTV.In Bordeaux, looters smashed the storefronts of high-end shops, such as Apple and Louis Vuitton and Hermès.Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said approximately 400 people who took part in the demonstrations were arrested nationwide, including 110 in Paris during a press update, the BBC.Nuñez say...