Follow-Up: France Deploys 70,000 Officers for Saturday Protests as Louvre and Other Paris Museums Close
France is deploying about 70,000 police officers and gendarmes across the country for a new round of nationwide protests on Saturday, October 24, and several major Paris museums will close for the day as authorities seek to prevent a repeat of last weekend's violent unrest. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the security operation would also use helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons, with elite police units helping to secure public buildings such as city halls in a highly mobile operation. (GSM, based on reporting by The Associated Press)
At a news conference, Nuñez said there had been numerous calls from radical far-left groups on social media to commit acts of violence and vandalism, as well as renewed calls for looting, which he said were clearly being spread by rioters. "We will be absolutely uncompromising" with those involved in violence, he said, warning that police would take a very firm approach to arrests and that there would be legal consequences.
The institutions closing include the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Picasso Museum and the Grand Palais, which is hosting a major Cézanne exhibition. France's Culture Ministry has urged institutions under its supervision to protect visitors, staff and artworks. Art Basel Paris, the contemporary art fair being held at the Grand Palais, opened to the public for one day on Friday before organizers cancelled its Saturday and Sunday weekend programme over security concerns. Shopkeepers in Paris have spent the week barricading their storefronts, including near Place de la République, one of last weekend's flashpoints. Paris police prefect Patrice Faure urged shopkeepers to hire security guards and later clarified that protecting business owners and their establishments is the government's responsibility.
Last weekend's protests in France devolved into fires, stormed public buildings, smashed shop windows, looting and clashes with police, in what was described as the country's most violent unrest in years. The Interior Ministry put nationwide turnout on October 17 at approximately 550,000 people, and about 3,000 shops across France were damaged or looted. On Saturday, students, members of the CGT labor union and activists from the yellow vest movement are expected to take to the streets again to denounce the high cost of living. The movement began last month with high school students in the southeast of Paris demanding improved school conditions and has since expanded nationwide. Some protests have been banned in cities including Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, while approved marches are scheduled in Paris and other places.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 巴黎卢浮宫玻璃金字塔与拿破仑庭院夜景（资料图）。照片：Benh LIEU SONG，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons
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