France’s Macron condemns ‘unbridled violence’ amid new wave of clashes

Parisiennes use a fire extinguisher on burning Sunday. French President Emmanuel Macron promised to be 'uncompromising' when it comes to violent protesters and looters in France. Photo by AFP Contributor#AFP /AFP via Getty Images

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President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday slammed the “unbridled” violence that erupted in cost-of-living protests across France, as police battled protesters and looters in new clashes in Paris.

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Nearly 2,400 people were arrested Saturday in unrest that represented some of the worst urban violence in France in years, with almost 1,000 police and gendarmes injured, seven seriously, the interior ministry said.

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In an address to the nation, Macron said authorities would increase security and vowed lessons would be learned over the police response. But he stopped short of announcing any drastic measure, such as a state of emergency or curfew.

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“Tonight, we all feel anger and shame,” Macron said, adding that there must be a distinction between protesters with “legitimate demands” with “those who destroyed, smashed, and looted.”

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“Those who have destroyed must pay,” he said, vowing the government would be “uncompromising” towards the “agitators from ultra-left fringe groups, joined by numerous delinquents” who “unleashed unbridled violence in our cities.”

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Protestors stand in front of a fire in Faubourg du Temple street as clashes erupted at Place de la Republique following an unauthorized demonstration, central Paris, on Sunday. Photo by MATTHIEU RONDEL /AFP via Getty Images

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AFP journalists said police Sunday fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of people gathered in a Paris square following social media calls for a gathering that authorities said had not been approved.

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Bottles and rocks were hurled at police who made several arrests. Shops were also looted around Republique square with specialist anti-riot police deployed for the second day.

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Violence also erupted Sunday in the southeastern city of Lyon, where police thwarted youths who attempted to smash the windows of a luxury clothing store.

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‘Lamentable’ address

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The unrest came just months before a presidential election where centrist Macron cannot stand again and Marine Le Pen, the far-right presidential candidate for the National Rally party, is riding high in the polls.

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Le Pen said the troubles showed that Macron’s administration was “running on fumes, exhausted and disoriented.” Her top lieutenant Jordan Bardella described Macron’s speech as a “lamentable” address that showed the authorities had “nothing more to say” to France.

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Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of the hard-left France Unbowed party, also running for president, urged Macron to respond to the protesters’ demands, saying young people “need this episode to reach a positive conclusion.”

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Macron said “our country deserves a fine presidential election”, marked by debates “with the parties, rather than in the streets with violence.”

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Saturday’s protests had seen unions, the anti-Macron Yellow Vests movement that ruffled the early years of his presidency and school students, who had protested for the last weeks, join forces in a show of anger at the cost of living and prospects for young people.

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With images of French town halls burning and shops being looted grabbing headlines around the world, U.S. President Donald Trump waded into the debate, blaming immigration for the unrest.

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“France is burning! The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country,” Trump said in a social media post.