France’s interior minister says police lost control as riot arrests top 2,400
France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said police “lost control” in several cities during a weekend of rioting and looting that followed mass protests over the cost of living and public services, France 24 reported. President Emmanuel Macron rejected Nuñez’s offer to resign, and the cabinet was holding an emergency meeting Monday morning, the BBC reported.
What happened: Saturday’s nationwide marches drew about 550,000 people by the authorities’ estimate and 800,000 by the organizers’ count, France 24 reported. The marches were largely peaceful, but violence broke out in several cities, with buildings set on fire and shops looted, the BBC reported. At least 2,400 people were arrested across the country, The Guardian reported. Disorder continued Sunday, and authorities reported 350 arrests in Paris on Sunday and early Monday, according to the BBC.
The minister’s admission: “I offered to resign because I am entirely responsible for what happened,” Nuñez told France Inter radio, according to France 24, which said he acknowledged a “failure to anticipate” the unrest. He said his teams had forecast 200,000 demonstrators, the BBC reported. The Élysée Palace said Macron asked him to stay and focus on making the streets safer and bringing rioters to justice, according to the BBC. Nuñez blamed “ultra-left” groups for the violence, France 24 reported.
Macron’s response: In a televised address, Macron criticized “unbridled violence” and said “nothing justifies” it, The Guardian reported. He said local state officials would be able to ban certain street gatherings, and he drew a line between peaceful demonstrators and those who “destroy, ransack and loot.” Politicians on the left and right had called for Nuñez to resign, the paper reported.
What is still unclear: Alain Di Crescenzo, head of France’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told RTL that more than 2,000 businesses were directly affected, with damage estimated at “hundreds of millions of euros,” France 24 and the BBC reported. That is an industry estimate, not an official tally. Activists from the “yellow vest” movement have called for a new round of protests on Saturday, France 24 reported.