Key Takeaways
- 2,000 people arrested in France as cost-of-living demonstrations turn violent.
- Paris city workers struggle to clean up damage from previous day’s unrest.
- Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen criticizes Macron’s administration for handling crisis.
French police clashed with protesters and looters for a second day, as the country grappled with the aftermath of cost-of-living demonstrations. The unrest, which saw around 2,000 people arrested nationwide, continued in major cities including Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice, and Strasbourg.
In Paris, the scene was chaotic with burnt cars, smashed shopfronts, and debris scattered across the streets. The city workers who had not yet finished clearing up the damage from Saturday’s protests faced new challenges as the unrest escalated.
According to AFP journalists, several hundred people gathered in the Republique square in the capital following social media calls for a gathering that authorities said had not been approved. The situation quickly deteriorated as looting of a clothing store was reported, and bikes were set alight nearby.
The Paris police prefecture reported that security forces moved in when 'faced with the initial signs of tension.' Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of people, making several arrests. Residents described the scene as 'like we had a war,' with one 78-year-old Paris resident, Mehmet Ozeden, noting the burnt street barricades from the protests.
The Retail and Trade Federation estimated that around 1,500 businesses were damaged, with losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. One person died during the main march in Paris, but officials said the case was health-related.
The government faced intense pressure, six months before a presidential election. Opposition parties criticized the administration’s handling of the nationwide day of action, which followed weeks of mounting student protests over conditions in schools. President Emmanuel Macron, who vowed that anyone who engaged in vandalism or looting would be prosecuted, was to address the nation on Sunday evening at 1800 GMT.
Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, leading opinion polls ahead of the election, said the troubles showed that Macron’s administration was 'running on fumes, exhausted and disoriented.' She added, 'We are experiencing a profound crisis of trust and authority, which poses a threat to democracy.' Le Pen blamed ultra-left groups, while Jean-Luc Melenchon, head of the far-left France Unbowed party, accused authorities of inflaming tensions.
US President Donald Trump also weighed in, blaming immigration for the unrest. In a social media post, he said, 'France is burning! The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country.'
It’s like we had a war.
Mehmet Ozeden, 78-year-old Paris resident
We are experiencing a profound crisis of trust and authority, which poses a threat to democracy.
Marine Le Pen, Far-right presidential candidate for the National Rally party
France is burning! The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country.
Donald Trump, US President
