Protestsupdated 1h ago2 min read
Macron Blames Radical Left Groups for France Riots, Lecornu Vows Security Deployment
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French PM Lecornu attributes weekend riots to ultra-left groups and insurrection attempts. Authorities pledge a massive security deployment for the next weekend protests.
Macron, blame, and riots
French President Emmanuel Macron blamed “small groups from the radical left who were joined by many criminals” for the violence that accompanied renewed protests across France last Saturday, and he insisted on ignoring protesters’ demands and concerns in an address on October 18. Elisabeth told a BBC reporter in Paris that “Saturday is about something else entirely,” after she spoke in front of a row of smashed shop windows and red-lettered graffiti signed with the date of the riots, 17 October.
French intelligence briefed government circles earlier this month that left-wing anarchist groups were involved in the student protests, and a French intelligence report dated 29 September published by Le Figaro described the “manipulation” of student demonstrations by student unions and political movements aligned with the radical left. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused “the planning, in certain locations, of an insurrectionary plan led by far-left and ultra-left fringe groups,” and he said authorities would not tolerate such groups “marching on the Elysée or Matignon.”
Trump and the immigration claim
President Donald Trump tried to leverage the unrest in France ahead of mid-term congressional elections by making claims that the social unrest was caused by Muslim migrants, and he urged French President Emmanuel Macron to “close your borders and take control before it is too late!” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that “Western liberals imported the third world into France,” adding that the country had “ignored fundamental questions about assimilation and compatibility.”
The BBC described a video showing groups of young men dressed in black with a black folded kerchief around their face, apparently attacking police vans with what looked like large hammers or machetes, while French police examined CCTV and social media footage. French authorities did not link immigrants to the rioting in France, and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle said “Authorities and police have not linked immigrants to the rioting in France.”
Security plans and political fallout
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told the National Assembly that authorities would deploy the Sentinelle force “as a substitute to interior security forces ... mostly to free police and gendarmes in their mission to maintain order,” as Lecornu promised a “massive” security presence next weekend. Euronews reported that rioters stormed a pharmacy near the Place de la République in Paris, looted its contents, and set it on fire, and the pharmacist Odilia Setbon described concern about how to support her three children.
“How can French people do this to France?”
The Guardian said nationwide protests in France on Saturday were called over rising fuel prices and falling purchasing power, and it reported that the unrest left a historic town hall torched and led to 1,800 arrests. The Nation warned that the “imminent risk” was a far-right victory in the spring 2027 presidential elections, and it quoted President Emmanuel Macron asking, “How can French people do this to France?” in response to the weekend’s rioting.