Follow-Up: France Riot Toll Revised Up Again — Nearly 2,400 Arrested, Almost 1,000 Police and Gendarmes Injured; New Clashes in Paris on Sunday
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday slammed the "unbridled" violence that erupted on the sidelines of cost-of-living protests, as police battled protesters and looters in new clashes in Paris, according to AFP.
On the figures, the interior ministry said nearly 2,400 people were arrested in Saturday's unrest, with almost 1,000 police and gendarmes injured, seven of them seriously — unrest AFP described as some of the worst urban violence in France in years. GSM previously reported Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez's earlier Sunday figures of over 2,000 arrests and more than 600 police, gendarmes and firefighters injured, with two deaths.
On Sunday's clashes, AFP journalists said police fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of people gathered in a Paris square following social-media calls for a gathering that authorities said had not been approved. Bottles and rocks were hurled at police, who made several arrests; shops were looted around République square, with specialist anti-riot police deployed for a second day. Violence also erupted Sunday in the southeastern city of Lyon, where police thwarted youths who attempted to smash the windows of a luxury clothing store.
In his address to the nation, Macron said authorities would increase security and vowed that lessons would be learned over the police response, but he stopped short of announcing any drastic measure such as a state of emergency or a curfew. "Tonight, we all feel anger and shame," he said, adding that a distinction must be made between protesters with "legitimate demands" and "those who destroyed, smashed, and looted." "Those who have destroyed must pay," he said, vowing the government would be "uncompromising" towards the "agitators from ultra-left fringe groups, joined by numerous delinquents" who "unleashed unbridled violence in our cities."
In reactions, National Rally leader Marine Le Pen said the troubles showed Macron's administration was "running on fumes, exhausted and disoriented"; her top lieutenant Jordan Bardella described Macron's speech as a "lamentable" address that showed the authorities had "nothing more to say" to France. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of the hard-left France Unbowed party, urged Macron to respond to the protesters' demands, saying young people "need this episode to reach a positive conclusion." Macron said "our country deserves a fine presidential election," marked by debates with the parties rather than violence in the streets. Saturday's protests had seen unions, the Yellow Vests movement and school students who had protested for weeks join forces in anger over the cost of living and prospects for young people.
On injuries, a 17-year-old boy had his right hand blown off by a crowd-control grenade in the southern city of Saint-Étienne, and in Mulhouse a 17-year-old girl lost an eye, according to prosecutors. "It's like we had a war," 78-year-old Paris resident Mehmet Ozeden told AFP amid burnt street barricades from Saturday's protests. The city of Limoges lost its 19th-century town hall to a fire that local prefect Maurice Barate told news channel LCI had been deliberately set. In Lyon, a tourist office in the city centre was set ablaze during the protests amid multiple clashes and looting.
Macron vowed that top officials would "make decisions in coordination with mayors to protect our cities, public buildings, and businesses," pledging support for businesses that suffered. He vowed "full transparency" over the security forces' response, after criticism that police preparations had been inadequate. Some opposition politicians have already called for the sacking of Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. Macron said he had asked Nuñez to "draw all necessary lessons," particularly regarding intelligence gathering and anticipation, adding that he expected "clear answers."
Source: AFP follow-up report, Sunday, October 18, 2026; Macron's quoted remarks also checked against Reuters' same-day report.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：巴黎共和国广场（资料照片，2017年12月1日摄）——周日冲突发生地。图片来源：Pierre-Selim Huard／Wikimedia Commons（CC BY 4.0）。Photo: Place de la République, Paris (file photo, December 1, 2017) — site of Sunday's clashes. Photo by Pierre-Selim Huard, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
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