Macron says 'nothing justifies' violence in protests during address to nation

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday expressed the public's “anger” and “shame” over nationwide protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools that have resulted in at least 2,300 arrests.

Speaking in an address to the nation, Macron said: “Those who looted will have to pay back for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable.”

He pointed to “unrestrained violence” by “insurrectionist elements from radical far-left groups, joined by numerous criminals.”

Read more'Like we had a war': France left reeling after nationwide violent protests

Earlier that day, Macron held an emergency meeting with senior government officials, a day after masked groups set fires and attacked public buildings, including city halls, in several cities. 

In the central town of Limoges, flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall, causing its roof to collapse and nearly destroying the building.

Hundreds of protesters gathered again Sunday at the Place de la République in Paris amid a heavy police presence. Officers used tear gas as tensions flared sporadically in the neighbourhood, with small groups of people trying to set bicycles and trash bins on fire. 

“The right to protest is a fundamental right. Deliberately and collectively sowing disorder through violence is not,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez wrote on X, citing the looting of hundreds of businesses in cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux.

About 550,000 people took part in protests across France, according to authorities, while organisers put the figure at about 800,000. Demonstrators answered calls from a labour union, student organisations and activists hoping to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 to protest social injustice.

Mass protests in France are often marred by violence on the fringes of otherwise peaceful marches, leading to clashes with police. The arrest tally reported Sunday approached the nearly 2,000 recorded nationwide during a single day of yellow vest protests in December 2018.

One person died of a heart attack, Paris police said in a statement, without providing details. The Paris prosecutor’s office said it was investigating.

Dislodged cobblestones, shattered storefronts and broken glass littered the area around Paris’ Place de la République on Sunday. Looting and damage were also reported in other tourist and shopping districts.

Paris police said 855 people were arrested in the capital region. The city's prosecutor’s office said 557 remained in police custody. 

Political leaders across the spectrum sought to parlay the fallout of Saturday’s riots into political capital, looking ahead to next spring’s presidential election.

Far-right leader and presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen criticised Macron's centrist government as “exhausted, disoriented and seemingly incapable of doing anything other than commenting on its own powerlessness”, in a video posted Sunday on social media.

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, for his part, accused Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu of “playing with fire”, alleging that “by banking on degradation, you have only succeeded in uniting all youths and workers’ unions”.

Mélenchon, who joined the Paris march Saturday, insisted that “my message is clear: those who share our fight have no business in looting or destruction”.

US President Donald Trump posted “France is burning!” on his Truth Social platform, apparently linking the unrest to “the immigration of people from an entirely different world”. 

“Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!” he wrote.

French authorities and police have not linked immigrants to the rioting and have repeatedly attributed some of the violence to “radical far-left groups” and other people who joined to loot.

“The scale of the damage is considerable and unprecedented,” Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire wrote in an open letter. “Paris is a city of freedoms, debate and demonstrations. It must remain so. But it must also be a city where everyone can work and run a business safely.” 

Police said groups of hundreds of people formed unauthorised marches across central Paris on Saturday. “By late afternoon, a new phase began with the arrival of large numbers of people whose sole aim was to steal and loot, taking advantage of the unrest,” police said. 

The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon, the three largest cities, requested a meeting with the prime minister in the coming days “given the extent of the damage and the seriousness of the situation”.

In the southern port city of Marseille, some protesters briefly forced their way into the lobby of City Hall and a group of people wearing hoods and masks damaged a police station. In Lyon, a fire broke out inside a tourist office.

In Limoges, a group of “radical troublemakers” broke into City Hall while there were elected officials, employees, security personnel and members of the public inside, Maurice Barate, prefect of the Haute-Vienne region, said. “Despite the presence of so many people, they deliberately set the building on fire. It is an extremely serious and unspeakable act.”

In eastern France, the Mulhouse prosecutor’s office said an investigation has been opened after a 17-year-old girl was injured during the protests and lost an eye. On Saturday, another investigation was opened after a young protester lost a hand in Saint-Étienne. 

The injuries come as police have drawn sharp scrutiny over their use of grenades and other riot-control weapons during recent demonstrations.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)