Home · World · Oct 18 archive
France in Shock After Protests Turn Into Riots, Damaging Buildings and Shops
· Confirmed
In Short: Japantimes (Japan) and RTE.ie (Ireland) reported that while hundreds of thousands protested peacefully in street marches in scores of cities, violent fringe groups targeted public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets, and attacked police vehicles and officers.
Paris residents are dismayed by the damage caused by protests that turned into riots, with widespread looting and arson reported across the country. Al Jazeera (Qatar) and BBC (United Kingdom) reported that Paris residents expressed dismay over the destruction caused by the protests, which included the burning of a 143-year-old building in Limoges.
According to NBC News (United States) and Ynetnews (Israel), masked groups set fires and attacked public buildings, including city halls, in several cities on Saturday. NBC News quoted Marine Le Pen as saying that rioters had again spoiled the Oct. 17 demonstrations with looting, ransacking, and attacking law enforcement.
Japantimes (Japan) and RTE.ie (Ireland) reported that while hundreds of thousands protested peacefully in street marches in scores of cities, violent fringe groups targeted public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets, and attacked police vehicles and officers. The scale and intensity of the unrest appeared to exceed previous waves of violence in France, including the riots of 2023 and the Yellow Vest protests that began in 2018.
Thevibes (United States) reported that the unrest resulted in about 1,200 arrests, while Hindustan Times (India) reported that more than 1,000 arrests had been made. Thevibes also noted that clashes, looting, and arson were reported in several French cities, with similar protests spreading across Europe.
Minister of the Interior Laurent Nuñez, quoted by Breitbart (United States), blamed the “radical left” for stoking the riots, saying that “groups of several hundred or thousands of rioters, clearly instigated by the far left, attacked the police,” leaving at least 60 officers injured. The Interior Ministry, quoted by I24News (Israel), blamed “ultra-left” groups for attacks on police, attempted looting, and the targeting of government buildings and media outlets.
The protests began in September, launched by students angry at the conditions at their high schools after the summer holidays. The CGT union estimated the turnout at 800,000, according to Reuters, while AFP reported that a quarter of a million demonstrators took to the streets on Tuesday.
The unrest comes amid weeks of student protests and growing political uncertainty ahead of elections to replace President Emmanuel Macron. Lola, a 19-year-old protester in Paris, said, “We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh, because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions.”
At Place de la Republique, in the heart of the French capital, people on Sunday surveyed the previous day’s destruction in dismay: smashed windows, gutted buildings, looted shops. The student-led protests began in mid-September, caused by grievances ranging from overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages to systemic inequality and a lack of opportunity.
By Sunday, as the clean-up began, more than 1,800 people had been arrested. Authorities also reported attempted break-ins at municipal buildings in Lille and Calais, as well as an attempted attack on a police station in Brest.
Al Jazeera (Qatar) and BBC (United Kingdom) reported that the violence overshadowed the actual message behind the protesters’ grievances. Al Jazeera noted that the violence was so spectacular that the actual message – the reasons behind the protesters’ grievances – was never conveyed.
Despite the disagreements over the scale and intensity of the unrest, all outlets agreed that the protests, which began as peaceful demonstrations against rising living costs and declining public services, turned violent, resulting in widespread looting, arson, and clashes with police.
The protests have drawn international attention, with similar demonstrations reported in other European countries.
What's confirmed
- Paris residents tell Al Jazeera they’re dismayed by protest damage Paris, France – France is counting the cost of a day of unrest after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets nationwide, in the largest mobilisation since protests over education reforms and rising prices began last month.
- Paris – Rioting erupted in cities across France on Saturday as demonstrations against rising living costs and declining public services spiraled out of control in some of the worst violence the country has witnessed for decades.
- While hundreds of thousands protested peacefully in street marches in scores of cities, violent fringe groups targeted public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets and attacked police vehicles and officers.
- “We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh, because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions,” said Lola, a 19-year-old protester in Paris.
- French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the government would not be "intimidated" by violence, and blamed the unrest on the "far-left" and criminals just months before a presidential election next year.
What's still developing
- "A wild horde" had "deliberately" set fire to the 143-year-old building, said Maurice Barate, the prefect for the Haute-Vienne department.
- Large protests have erupted in Spain over the eviction of an 87-year-old woman who is set to return to her Madrid home, her representatives said.
- Melenchon, who had backed the demonstrations and preceding student protests, urged participants to avoid looting, calling it contrary to the movement’s methods.
- France’s police inspectorate, the IGPN, had opened 36 investigations into alleged police violence since the high-school protests began, according to figures released by the Ministry of the Interior on October 13.
- “Those who sow misery reap anger,” read one inscription.
- “Protesting is a fundamental right. Causing disorder through violence and in a concerted manner is not,” he said on Sunday.
- “There is an increasingly systematic use of crowd-control measures that would normally be reserved for much more serious situations,” said Christophe Calvao, president of the Paris Young Lawyers’ Union.
- “Students and others have real claims they want to air which no one is listening to now because idiots are smashing everything,” said Benoit Payan, the city’s mayor.
- “In Paris, aberrant leadership has opened the door to chaos. Those in charge no longer know what to do; the rank and file are afraid and are running wild,” he said.
- "The roof has collapsed onto lower floors, except the west wing, and two-thirds of the exterior has already disappeared," the local prefect, Maurice Barate, told the AFP news agency.