Massive violence during 17 October mobilisation, police overwhelmed
The protest movement on 17 October was accompanied by urban violence of exceptional intensity in several major cities. Approximately 1,800 arrests were made.
17 October demonstration: cities devastated and police forces overwhelmed
According to tf1.fr, the mobilisation day on 17 October brought together some 550,000 participants according to the Interior Ministry, or 800,000 according to the CGT. These figures, however, conceal a brutal reality: urban violence of rare intensity erupted simultaneously in several French metropolitan areas. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez counted 1,800 arrests in the final tally.
Law enforcement was attacked in each city affected. Street furniture was systematically damaged, shops ransacked and looted. "Protesting is a fundamental right. Sowing disorder with violence and in a coordinated manner is not. Attacking our law enforcement, targeting our institutions, damaging public buildings, breaking into prefectures or town halls, looting shops: nothing can justify it," Nuñez declared.
In Paris, the city centre recorded the most visible damage. Entire streets around Place de la République were methodically devastated according to mayor Emmanuel Grégoire. The first PS deputy to the mayor, Lamia El Aaraje, estimated on Franceinfo that the city had reached "a level of violence that we have, I believe, never seen before". Residents expressed dismay and bewilderment: one told LCI they had the impression of being "not in a war zone, but it's still extremely unusual".
Bordeaux also recorded large-scale looting scenes. Mayor Thomas Cazenave counted between 50 and 100 shops whose windows had been smashed or which had been looted. "I condemn this with the utmost firmness. No claim can justify such an outbreak of violence in our streets," he asserted.
In Marseille, mayor Benoît Payan described the scale of the disturbances. "What we saw yesterday is intolerable. I have no words to describe what I never thought I would experience," he declared. He denounced "hordes of vandals and looters who attacked our common property, law enforcement, firefighters, students, without any claim". Payan stressed that "the city was wrecked" and that "municipal police officers and students were turned into cannon fodder".
Lille witnessed similar scenes. The town hall was forced by vandals, as were several municipal buildings in other cities.
In Lyon, the tourism office branch at Place Bellecour was set ablaze. Firefighters, prevented from intervening by the crowd, were forced to watch helplessly as the building was completely destroyed. The prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Étienne Guyot, reported that "Lyonnais say that such an outbreak of violence has never been seen before". Mayor Grégory Doucet spoke of "total chaos" observed for many hours.
The town hall of Limoges, a historic nineteenth-century building, was ravaged by flames after a group of individuals entered it and deliberately set it on fire. The prefect of Haute-Vienne, Maurice Barate, confirmed that "the fire was deliberately set". The roof collapsed, and the historic part of the building is "almost 100 per cent destroyed" inside. Only the modern rear section was able to be saved by firefighters.
In the aftermath of the disturbances, scenes of desolation dominated the French urban landscape. The material and symbolic toll of this day remains unprecedented.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)