PARIS — As he joined a “Yellow Vest” protest in Bordeaux, in southwestern France, Jean-Marc Michaud felt elated. His wife worked nearby and they had not seen each other in a month, so the march was a perfect opportunity to reunite.

Instead, his life took a serious turn for the worse at the protest in early December, when a rubber projectile fired by the police destroyed his right eye. Mr. Michaud, 41, who lives on France’s western coast, now joins demonstrations to protest both economic distress and police violence.

“The government claims that we are looters and violent protesters, but so many of us are just peaceful civilians,” said Mr. Michaud, a horticulturist who now wears an eye patch and says his arms were raised when he was shot. “The government isn’t listening to us, and now they are trying to silence us with repression in the streets.”

Anger at officers’ use of force has helped fuel the nationwide Yellow Vest movement that began as protests against a fuel tax increase and that has grown into a broader revolt against President Emmanuel Macron’s government.