Protestsupdated 1h ago2 min read
French Police Arrest 1,800 After Riots, Looting, and Limoges Town Hall Fire
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
About 1,800 people arrested nationwide after protests devolved into riots and looting. Hundreds of shops damaged or looted, with Limoges town hall gutted.
16 outlets told this the same way.
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Arrests and city damage
French police arrested about 1,800 people on Saturday as protests turned to riots and looting across France, with shopfronts shattered and burnt out cars on Paris streets. President Emmanuel Macron was due to address the nation at 20:00 local time on Sunday after Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the government was investigating to identify perpetrators of the violence.
Paris deputy mayor Lamia El Aaraje said the violence reached "a level of violence that we have never, I believe, seen before" as streets in central Paris were left littered with shattered glass and burnt debris. The unrest also destroyed Limoges' 19th-century town hall, and prefect Maurice Barate said the blaze was deliberately set by "a wild horde" and was only brought under control early Sunday.
Macron, police, and claims
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the violence involved "several thousand far-left individuals" determined to target public buildings and confront the police, and he added that "delinquents who looted and ransacked" businesses joined them. Paris resident Mehmet Ozeden told AFP, "It's like we had a war," as riot police charged at crowds in central Paris and hit people with batons.
Anita Gras told the BBC that it was "terrifying" to watch groups of young people "smashing everything, with total impunity," while the BBC reported that looters were carrying supermarket baskets filled with goods. French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that "No room for violence in our Republic" and said those who attacked town halls and looted businesses would be prosecuted and punished.
Injuries, turnout, next steps
France's interior ministry said more than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were injured in the unrest on Saturday, while the Retail and Trade Federation said about 1,500 shops and retailers were damaged. The French Interior Ministry said about 550,000 people attended demonstrations across the country, while the CGT trade union said 800,000 people participated.
In Paris, a protester died after suffering cardiac arrest during demonstrations, and the BBC said officials described it as health-related and not linked to protest violence. The BBC said Macron was due to address the nation at 20:00 local time on Sunday after what it described as one of the worst outbreaks of disorder in modern French history, as police arrested about 1,800 people on Saturday.