France on Sunday assessed the extent of the damage caused by a day of violence, looting and chaos that overshadowed demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of people protesting the rising cost of living, just six months before the presidential election.
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Amid growing social tensions and government paralysis caused by the lack of a parliamentary majority, the government pledged to take a firm stance against rioters.
The unrest was more severe than the protests of 2023 and the Yellow Vest demonstrations of 2018 and 2019.
In Paris and across the streets of major cities, hundreds of businesses and shops were targeted, while debris and the remains of burned motorcycles covered entire streets. Local authorities said that “entire streets were systematically vandalized.”
Small groups of young people carried out organized looting operations. Wearing masks and gloves, members of the groups disabled surveillance cameras before smashing shop windows and breaking into the stores.
In Marseille in the south, Lille in the north and Bordeaux in the southwest, protesters stormed and vandalized municipal and regional government buildings. In Limoges in central France, a fire destroyed a large part of the city hall, a massive 19th-century building, according to local authorities.
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged on X to prosecute and punish “everyone who committed acts of vandalism, attacked institutions or businesses, or took part in looting.”
Authorities said 1,200 people were arrested on Saturday, while 150 security personnel were injured in clashes with protesters.
Several protesters were also injured, some seriously. In Saint-Étienne in central France, a 17-year-old boy lost a hand after being struck by a grenade thrown by police.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, after visiting security forces overnight, said: “It is a miracle that the toll is not higher tonight.”
A Heavy Cost
The Interior Ministry estimated the number of protesters at nearly 550,000, while organizers put the figure at 800,000.
Régine Monfroy, a social worker who took part in the demonstrations, said: “I came to protest against the rising cost of living and to say that we are tired of working hard for low wages while rents continue to rise.”
The protests and accompanying unrest drew mixed reactions from political parties. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the radical left-wing La France Insoumise, took part in a demonstration in Paris and called for avoiding violence and vandalism.
Meanwhile, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who leads the polls, said her National Rally party stood with the police, arguing that the left’s position “legitimizes violence” and pushes the country toward chaos.
With six months remaining before the presidential election, political tensions between Mélenchon and Le Pen are intensifying, with several opinion polls suggesting they could face each other in a second-round runoff.
As violence continued into late evening, particularly in Paris, Lecornu warned that “the financial cost of the damage will be enormous.”
Alexandre Bompart, president of the Trade and Distribution Federation, said he expected “major economic and financial consequences.”
Source: AFP
