Protestsupdated 1h ago2 min read
Macron Faces LFI, Bardella, Mélenchon Criticism After Town Hall Blaze, Looting, Arrests
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Police arrested over 1,800 people nationwide during protests. Hundreds of shops looted and several buildings set ablaze in multiple cities.
Macron draws fire
Emmanuel Macron delivered an eight-minute speech expressing “anger and shame” after a weekend in which a town hall was set ablaze, 2,000-plus shops were looted, 2,300 people were arrested and 1,000 police injured. Marine Tondelier said Macron was “summoning us to the PM’s office like pupils to the blackboard” rather than “even beginning to make any kind of mea culpa”. Jordan Bardella called Macron’s speech “lamentable” and said Macron had “nothing left to say” to the French.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused Macron of relying on “inaction and police brutality” in doomed hopes that the protests would simply fizzle out. Édouard Philippe said he would have preferred “decisions and initiatives that might lead to a return to order and the restoration of state authority … Our country needs to be governed.”
Curfews and custody
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 550,000 people gathered in the streets across the Hexagon, while the organisers put the figure at 800,000. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin announced 2,513 people held in police custody, many still ongoing, and 67 people imprisoned since the violence that highlighted the demonstrations this weekend. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced that he had asked the prefects to implement “localized” curfews starting this Monday evening, to protect shops after the looting and violence observed in several cities over the past weekend.
The Vietnam.vn report said a curfew was imposed in Paris from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM around the Place de la République and the streets surrounding Les Halles, and it said a ban on demonstrations was also announced in specific areas of Paris from 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM. Romain Huët said Saturday’s demonstrations represented “a high point, a major moment of aggregation of anger,” and he said these exutory violences have “something of a culture of communication with power.”
Political stakes widen
The Conversation said the protests in France have become a key factor in the looming French presidential elections of April 2027. The Conversation said Le Pen and other right-wing politicians could promise she would reimpose discipline in schools, increase funding for police and target the casseurs as “obviously” illegal migrants to be deported. The New York Times said Jordan Bardella told France’s “honest citizens” that they had a vital role in reinstating national stability by voting for his party.
“‘People need to wake up now,’ Mr. Bardella said.”
The New York Times said Bardella launched into campaign mode as the National Rally presented itself as the party best placed to restore law and order. Le Monde.fr described the October 17 violence as directed against symbols of the French Republic and representatives of state authority, with city halls and prefectures targeted and, in some cases, set on fire.