Paris and Marseille mayors demand answers from the state over weekend riots

Emmanuel Grégoire of Paris and Benoît Payan of Marseille appeared on France Inter to demand a full accounting from the state after a weekend of riots that saw dozens of shops looted in Paris and repeated assaults on police in Marseille. Both men faulted the existing doctrine for public order, arguing it underestimated the number of rioters and relied on tear-gas tactics that dispersed legitimate protesters and gave criminals free rein.

Grégoire pointed to an insufficient police presence and the use of "nets" that blocked peaceful participants, while Payan said he had warned the prefecture in writing before the violence erupted and condemned the retreat of CRS units that allowed break-ins at a municipal police station and the city hall. The mayors called for transparency on how forces are deployed, dismissed curfew and assembly bans as ineffective, and said they are ready to meet the president at Matignon or the interior ministry at Beauvau to discuss concrete measures.