More than 1,800 arrested in France during violent protests leaving devastation in their wakes

French demonstrations over the high cost of living degenerated into violent clashes. Photo by Kiran RIDLEY /AFP

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France was reeling on Sunday from widespread damage caused in violent protests the day before that saw 1,800 people arrested, a historic town hall torched and widespread looting.

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The convulsion, which officials described as of extraordinary intensity, raised the stakes for President Emmanuel Macron, who is in his final months in power before elections to replace him in six months’ time. It followed weeks of student protests that had also turned violent at times.

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Around “1,800 people have been arrested and now investigations are under way to identify the perpetrators of these acts so they can be brought to justice,” Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on X on Sunday.

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In Paris, where police said a “record” 855 people had been arrested, streets were littered with the burnt-out remains of barricades built by protesters using bikes and bins and other materials. Several streets had smashed shop windows and the remains of torched cars.

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The capital experienced “a level of violence that we have never, I believe, seen before,” said Paris deputy mayor Lamia El Aaraje.

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Around 1,800 people were arrested across France. (Matthieu RONDEL/AFP) Photo by Matthieu RONDEL /AFP

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Paris and many other cities, including Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice and Strasbourg, had scores of shops pillaged by masked youths during the protests, which had been called against high inflation and the cost of living.

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‘Wild horde’

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The city of Limoges lost its 19th-century town hall to a fire the local prefect, Maurice Barate, told LCI television had been deliberately set by “a wild horde.” The fire was only brought under control early Sunday.

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Political recriminations flew over the scenes of destruction.

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Macron’s centrist government and far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen both blamed “ultra-left” groups for the violence.

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Limoges’s 19th-century town hall went up in flames. (PASCAL LACHENAUD/AFP) Photo by PASCAL LACHENAUD /AFP

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Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who had prominently backed the demonstrations, late Saturday urged demonstrators to stay away from any looting, describing it as “contrary to our methods.”

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Paris’s Socialist deputy mayor, Lamia El Aaraje, accused Le Pen’s party of fuelling tensions around the protests to further her ambition of becoming president next year.

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The far-right National Rally party was “acting like a pyromaniac firefighter,” El Aaraje said.

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The protests focused anger on high inflation and against the rich. (Matthieu RONDEL/AFP) Photo by Matthieu RONDEL /AFP

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U.S. Vice President JD Vance also waded in, implying that the unrest stemmed from immigration.

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“Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion. They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility,” Vance said on X.

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500 arrested in Paris

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In Paris, where startled tourists had been seen Saturday running with suitcases along streets filled with tear gas and protesters, the prosecutor’s office said more than 500 people were in custody.