Rioters clashed with police, set cars on fire, stormed public buildings and engulfed a historic city hall in flames in France’s worst civil unrest in years PARIS -- Rioters clashed with police, set cars on fire, stormed public buildings and engulfed a historic city hall in flames in France’s worst civil unrest in years as violence and looting swept through major cities during nationwide protests. About 2,400 people were arrested over the weekend, and authorities said thousands of businesses were damaged or looted. The rioting overshadowed demonstrations against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools in which hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully.
President Emmanuel Macron denounced “unrestrained violence” by “insurrectionist elements from radical far-left groups, joined by numerous criminals.” More protests could be in store. High school and university student organizations called for more demonstrations Thursday and Saturday. The National High School Student Coordination group urged young people to “take to the streets” and backed continued blockades and demonstrations.
A group of activists seeking to revive the 2018 “yellow vest” movement against perceived social injustices also announced nationwide demonstrations planned for Saturday under the slogan “Macron must go.” The damage was comparable to the yellow vest protests at their peak, said Sebastian Roché, a research professor at the Sciences Po Grenoble political institute who studies policing. The movement, initially driven by opposition to fuel tax increases, brought repeated demonstrations against Macron’s government. Some demonstrations turned violent, with cars burned, shops looted and the Arc de Triomphe vandalized during clashes in Paris.
In June 2023, the police killing of a 17-year-old outside Paris also triggered days of nationwide unrest. Rioters looted shops and torched public buildings. Thousands were arrested and hundreds were injured.
France also experienced three weeks of rioting in 2005, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency. What sets this latest unrest apart, argued Roché, who has studied policing and violence for more than 30 years, are the injuries from police weapons. Roché said six people, including minors, had been maimed in three weeks of protests, losing hands or eyes.
Police have drawn sharp scrutiny over their use of nonlethal grenades and other riot-control weapons during recent demonstrations. Authorities repeatedly blamed some of the violence on groups of “far-left radicals,” followed by groups of criminals who see an opportunity for looting. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu described “disorder organized in an unprecedented way.” However, Roché said the far-left fringe was too small and loosely organized to account alone for violence on this scale.
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