Macron Says France Feels ‘Anger and Shame’ After Weekend Riots, Gives Officials Powers to Ban Marches

President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation Sunday evening after a weekend of riots across France. In the address, he blamed an “unprecedented” wave of violence on “ultra-left” rebels and on criminals who had joined protests over education funding and the cost of living.

“Looking at these images, we have all asked ourselves: what was going through their minds? How can French people do this to France? Nothing justifies it, nothing explains it, nothing excuses it. Tonight, we all feel anger and shame,” Macron said in the televised address, according to The Times.

About 1,500 shops were ransacked, more than 2,400 people were arrested and at least 500 police officers were injured, The Times reported. Interior ministry figures cited by The Times put Saturday’s arrests at 2,397 and the number of officers injured Saturday at 997, seven of them seriously, with 42 more officers hurt Sunday.

The chairman of the retail and distribution federation, Alexandre Bompard, said the looted shops included luxury boutiques, clothes and shoe stores and supermarkets, and that the damage ran to hundreds of millions of euros, The Times reported.

Luxury stores and public buildings hit

Looters also targeted luxury retailers. Mobs ransacked Galeries Lafayette in Paris, broke into Louis Vuitton and Apple stores in Bordeaux, and hit a Hermes store in Marseille, while an Apple store in Lille was vandalized and looted, the New York Post reported. Some designer brands, including Dior, hired private security teams to guard their Paris stores, the Post reported.

The 19th-century city hall in Limoges lost its spire and most of its roof in a fire started by protesters, while the tourist office in Lyon was torched. Rioters used metal barriers to break down the front doors of city halls in Marseille and Lille, and the official residence of the local interior ministry representative in Bordeaux was vandalized.

Unrest continued into Sunday. Tensions erupted for a second day at the Place de la Republique in Paris, where officers fired tear gas at crowds amid burning barricades. In Marseille, interior ministry officials counted about 30,000 looters and 8,000 rioters on Saturday, according to The Times. About 500 people were detained in Paris, and police said cells were full.

One protester died in Paris after suffering a cardiac arrest during the demonstrations, Devdiscourse reported. A 17-year-old in Saint-Etienne had his hand ripped off when he picked up a police anti-riot grenade and tried to throw it back, and a 17-year-old girl in Mulhouse lost an eye during a police intervention, according to The Times.

Blame traded over the violence

Macron said officials would be given powers to ban protest marches. “Those who have destroyed must pay, those who have looted must reimburse, those who have tried to topple the Republic must answer [for their acts],” he said.

Ministers accused the radical-left France Unbowed party (LFI) of whipping up the disorder. Its presidential candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, replied that the government was “alone responsible” for the violence, and warned that if Macron failed to heed protesters’ demands, “things will end up becoming uncontrollable.”

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the populist right National Rally and the favorite to succeed Macron in next year’s presidential election, said the country faced a “profound crisis of confidence [and] authority” that was “a threat to democracy.” Jordan Bardella, the party’s chairman, called for Macron’s resignation.

The violence followed the convergence of two protest movements: a weeks-long student movement demanding increased education funding, and online calls for a revival of the 2018 “yellow vest” demonstrations over the cost of living, The Times reported.

Reporting based on coverage by The Times and the New York Post.