France was rocked over the weekend by some of its most intense rioting in years amid protests over an ongoing cost of living crisis. And in Nice along the Southern coast, one game store employee named Pierre went viral for trying to chase away rioters in front of a shattered Micromania.
Video shared on X showed the man standing in the doorway of the shop next to an image of Goku from Dragon Ball Z before briefly leaving his perch to try to chase away some of the people contributing to the chaos. At one point as he’s walking back to the store someone nails him with an aerial kick from behind, shocking the crowd of onlookers. He gets back up and continues standing in the doorway of the Micromania as someone else hands him back his glasses.
He told French radio broadcaster ICI that what he did was probably dumb and he did it without thinking. “I can’t seem to intellectualize what happened. Maybe that will come later,” he said (via a machine translation). “I think I shouldn’t have done it in the first place. It was stupid. But at the time, that’s what I did.”
Asaltan una tienda de Micromania en Niza y agreden al dueño por intentar defenderla: pic.twitter.com/kD8OgE2hWr
— Wall Street Wolverine (@wallstwolverine) October 17, 2026
The protests have been gaining momentum since last month due to frustrations with poor school conditions and inflation across the economy. The anger has been fueled in part by the French government’s attempt to pass an austerity bill that would further cut social services. A reported 800,000 protesters turned out over the weekend, with rioters vandalizing roughly 1,500 shops. France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, apologized for the police being underprepared. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has called on cities like Marseille to institute curfews.
But one person who isn’t heaping scorn on the protest movement is Pierre. “We mustn’t forget that this is still a minority in terms of attitude,” he said of the rioters. “For the rest of the procession, things went rather well. There are a few bad apples, but they’re not the majority.”
INFO 🚨🇫🇷 | Des centaines de cartes Pokémon retrouvées éparpillées sur plusieurs mètres dans les rues de Lille, après l’incendie du magasin « Le Coin des Barons ». pic.twitter.com/vCe61fdUfk
— L'infoduNord (@INFODUNORD) October 17, 2026
Other geek shops across France were among the many shops vandalized. One along Boulevard Voltaire in Paris was allegedly stripped of all its retro games, leading to speculation that the stores won’t be able to reopen. Trading card shops belonging to the chain Le Coin des Barons were also hit. One viral video showed a nighttime city street strewn with Pokémon cards.
A reported 2,000 people were arrested in connection with the chaos over the weekend. “Those who destroyed must pay,” French President Emmanuel Macron said. “Those who looted must pay back. Those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable.” But he also said he will be listening to protesters’ demands in meetings this week to look at concrete proposals for addressing the nation’s frustrations.