En France, scènes de chaos et pillages à l'issue des manifestations contre la "vie chère"
From Paris to Marseille, the day of mobilization against the "high cost of living" brought together hundreds of thousands of French people on Saturday, six months before the presidential election, but ended with clashes and scenes of chaos of rare intensity, with "rioters" engaging in looting and damage into the evening, which was strongly condemned by the government.
Broken shop windows, burned-out cars, blaring sirens and attacked official buildings: many streets presented a scene of desolation at the end of this day of mobilization which brought together 550,000 people, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, and 800,000, according to the organizers ("yellow vests", high school and university students, employees, climate activists and anti-fascists).
"We will all stand united against the sowers of chaos," because there is "no place for violence in our Republic," President Emmanuel Macron affirmed on X, assuring that those who "broke" and "looted" on the sidelines of the demonstrations will be "prosecuted and punished."
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also denounced on X "extremely intense violence" and offered "all" his support to the police.
In Paris, the festive atmosphere at Place de Clichy, following a peaceful demonstration, contrasted sharply with the clashes that continued into the early evening around the iconic Place de la République, where tensions began as early as midday, even before the march started. These tensions escalated in various parts of the capital throughout the day, a day reminiscent of some of the "yellow vest" protests of 2018-2019.
An undeclared procession heading towards the Elysée Palace, the residence of the head of state, on Saturday was turned back by law enforcement.
- Streets "methodically ravaged" -
"Entire streets have been methodically ravaged," lamented the Socialist mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, who said the toll of the violence would be "immense."
Several other cities were also the scene of looting, such as Marseille, Lille and Lyon.
"We are at approximately 400 arrests," with "a majority of adults," announced Laurent Nuñez, who denounced "the hand of the ultra-left or the radical extreme left" and deplored "a clear desire" to attack "public buildings."
"The Limoges town hall is currently on fire," the minister noted. According to a senior local official, this 19th-century building "is largely lost."
Earlier in the day, the door of the Ministry of Justice in Paris was targeted with paint and graffiti, AFP observed.
A branch of the Lyon tourist office was ransacked and set on fire on the sidelines of the movement and, in Marseille, several dozen protesters briefly burst into the hall of the town hall after breaking down the door, shouting "it's the Revolution!", before being dispersed by the police.
In Lille, protesters also forced their way into several entrances to the town hall, breaking glass doors, and some managed to get inside, ransacking part of the premises before quickly fleeing, while in Bordeaux, an elite police unit (the RAID) was activated after the ransacking of the prefectural residence.
CRS 8, specializing in combating urban violence, has been called upon to lend a hand to law enforcement in the capital, AFP learned from a source close to the matter.
- "Social demands" -
National Rally (RN, far right) presidential candidate Marine Le Pen denounced "a hostage-taking by the far left" of the "legitimate social demands" of the protesters, while her opponent from La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, present in the Parisian procession, denounced the strategy of maintaining order which, according to him, leads to "disorder" and criticized the media coverage of "images of violence".
During the day, thousands of people gathered in several cities to voice their demands on the cost of living: 110,000 in Paris, according to Mr. Nuñez, as well as 20,000 in Lyon and Nantes and 10,000 in Rennes, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
A protester had his hand torn off in Saint-Étienne by a grenade thrown by law enforcement, according to a source close to the case.
The left-wing CGT union called on the government to "stop the repression" and to "respond immediately to social demands," announcing the "largest mobilization since the start of the academic year" with "1,750 rallies or demonstrations." It called for the continuation of "peaceful mobilization," particularly in preparation for "the major inter-union day of strikes and inter-professional demonstrations on November 5th."
On the website 17octobregiletjaune.net, the call to action also addressed residents of the neighborhoods—farmers, workers, and retirees—invited them to take to the streets. However, AFP journalists observed few blockades, apart from a few roundabouts, another echo of the "yellow vest" movement.
Commentaires (13)
Le Vrai.
Lol le batiment qui abrite la mairie de Limoges qui a survecu a la deuxieme vient de tomber en cendres pour ton information
Il s'agit tous simplement d'officialiser une de nos langues et la langue la plus utile actuellement.
Ce qu'on essaie de vous faire comprendre c'est côté linguistique pourquoi continuer à apprendre le français qui n'est plus utile qu'en France, la Wallonie, la Romandie et le Québec par exemple même en France l'anglais est obligatoire à partir du collège maintenant dans certaines écoles primaires sont même bilingues français et anglais.
Alors que dans les pays anglo-saxons (l'Angleterre , États-Unis, Australie, Nouvelle Zealand, Canada sauf le Québec la langue française n'est pas obligatoire mais optionnelle comme les autres langues étrangères tu dois savoir pourquoi ça,
Dans tous les pays du monde l'anglais si ce n'est pas la langue officielle du pays donc est étudié comme la première langue étrangère après la langue du pays.
Bientôt soixante dix ans après les indépendances on essaie même pas à officialiser une de nos langues nationales et après on prend l'anglais comme première langue étrangère comme en Asie, Europe et partout ailleurs.
Mais non fait si comme nous sommes encore une colonie française.
Pourquoi le Vietnam, Cambodge et le Laos ont abandonné le français pour le remplacer avec leurs langues.
Pour ceux qui disent qu'on a plusieurs langues nationales combien de langues officielles certains pays comme l'Inde ont.
Le mindset Africain est toujours colonisé.
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