French authorities prepare for fresh unrest after weekend riots and looting
After a weekend of intense riots in Paris, Marseille and Lyon, the French government announced curfews and warned of possible extensions while opposition groups plan new protests.
A wave of riots and looting swept central areas of Paris, Marseille and Lyon over the weekend, exposing gaps in police protection after protests. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced that curfews had contributed to last night’s relative calm and warned they could be lengthened where conditions demand. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin told television that 123 people are detained awaiting trial and roughly 2,500 are being held for questioning.
The main student union UNEF issued a flyer urging sustained pressure on President Emmanuel Macron to address what it calls an under-funded education system. Meanwhile, groups calling themselves gilets jaunes urged dispersed protests over soaring fuel costs, while the CGT and other major labor unions refrained from organizing further actions for the upcoming Saturday.
Why it matters
The unrest highlights mounting social tension in France ahead of the presidential election and could affect public order.
How this story developed
- Oct 1 France sees nearly two thousand arrests as school protests turn violent
- Oct 18 Shops in dozens of French cities were looted Saturday after cost-of-living protests, leaving retailers to assess heavy losses.
- Oct 18 President Emmanuel Macron described the recent unrest as a period of extreme gravity and pledged swift state assistance for damaged merchants.
- Oct 18 Macron granted prefects, together with mayors, the power to prohibit assemblies when required.
- Oct 18 A grenade injury to a 15‑year‑old has intensified criticism of police crowd‑control tactics.
- Oct 18 Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported over 2,000 arrests and 600 police injuries.
- Oct 19 A rioter was seriously injured when a large glass pane fell on his head and another had a hand severed after handling a police stun grenade.
- Oct 19 Macron rejected interior minister Laurent Nuñez's resignation after the minister acknowledged loss of control.
- Oct 19 Authorities will enforce 8 p.m.-6 a.m. curfews on Monday and Tuesday in parts of Lille and four other Nord communes following recent riots.
- Oct 19 A person died of a cardio‑respiratory arrest on Saturday afternoon, reported by the Paris police prefecture and the Paris prosecutor’s office as a man on rue du Château‑d’Eau dying after a probable malaise.
- Oct 19 Curfews were imposed overnight in sections of Paris.
- Oct 19 The Senate opened a formal inquiry into the weekend violence.
- Oct 20 Partial night curfews were imposed in sections of Paris, Nice and Lille.
- Oct 20 Curfews were extended to additional neighborhoods and cities, with assembly bans starting at 8 p.m.
In this story
Related stories
23 in this thread