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Nice Authorities Deploy Large Police Force as Protests Resume October 24, Seven Arrested

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France deploys about 70,000 police and gendarmes nationwide for October 24 protests. Nice sees a major police deployment in its city center for the demonstration.

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Nice braces for Act II

Nice authorities prepared for a second day of mass protests on Saturday, October 24, 2026, with a “very large deployment of law enforcement” in the city center and CRS trucks positioned at every intersection. The Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes said seven people were arrested following the discovery of protection against tear gas, and the mayor of Nice met municipal police mobilized for the day. The Alpes-Maritimes prefecture prohibited demonstrations and gatherings in a zone covering a large part of the city, and traders barricaded themselves, lowered the shutters, or hired private security guards despite the ban.

The Nice Administrative Court dismissed a petition filed by MRAP Nice Grasse and the association France Palestine Solidarité to request the suspension of the prohibition order against demonstrations and gatherings tomorrow. Authorities said about twenty shops were looted and/or damaged during the October 17 demonstration, and more than a hundred people were arrested over the weekend, nearly half of whom were minors.

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Large open square with central monument, people scattered around1 December 2017 · Archive photoPhoto: Pierre-Selim Huard, CC BY 4.0
Reporting for this sectionActu.fr

70,000 officers nationwide

France braced for another day of mass protests as Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 20 percent more officers would be deployed than during the previous weekend. The Interior ministry set the scale at “More than 70,000 police officers and gendarmes” deployed across France, and the operation involved RAID, an elite police unit usually tasked with counterterrorism and other high-risk interventions. Amnesty International France warned that “This security escalation comes at the expense of our freedoms, seriously endangering the right to demonstrate peacefully,” as businesses in central Paris were shuttered and shop windows covered with protective panels.

In Paris, at least 24 metro stations were closed at the request of the police prefecture, and the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay closed for the day while Art Basel Paris cancelled its weekend programme. The BBC said the interior ministry would deploy 70,000 police officers, and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez vowed, “We will not let anything go unchallenged.”

Reporting for this sectionAl JazeeraBBC

Orléans congress and counter-march

Orléans prepared for a two-day conference of the far-right National Rally on Saturday, with authorities estimating about 20,000 to 30,000 people would participate in a march after its route was redirected to avoid the city center. The march carried trade union flags, anti-fascist banners, and Palestinian flags, and a lawyer and human rights activist identified himself as “Remy” to say participants came to denounce the conference and reject the normalization of the far right. In Orléans, the prefecture said about 11,000 people were taking part around noon Saturday in the demonstration against the National Rally in the city, while organizers put the figure at 26,000.

The CNews report said the prefecture told AFP its estimate “may still evolve,” and it added that authorities had said on Friday they expected up to 30,000 people from across France. In Paris, organizers accepted the route imposed by the police prefecture after the court rejected their appeal, and Karl Ghazi of CGT said, “We decided to follow the route imposed,” while Badiaa Souidi of CFDT Île-de-France said, “We take our responsibilities; we don’t want to put the demonstrators at risk.”

Reporting for this sectionAl-Jazirah NetCNews