France has recorded its third consecutive Saturday of violent disturbances and insurrection in the streets. What began as protest days called by groups and Muslim immigrants has turned into a scenario of extreme urban tension, characterized by the frontal clash between masked terrorists and security forces in the main cities of the country.
The magnitude of the massive deployment revealed differences in official and independent counts: while the coalition of youth organizations and unions estimated participation at nearly half a million people nationwide —including 200,000 in Paris—, official reports issued by the Ministry of the Interior and the Police Prefecture set attendance at 320,000 demonstrators nationwide and 70,000 in the capital. The severity of the confrontation resulted in a massive number of arrests reported by various media outlets, which indicated at least 420 criminals detained.
The violent escalation reached its most severe point in the capital, where a savage attack against law enforcement was reported: a gendarme was hit by a Molotov cocktail, causing his body to catch fire amid the march. In that same line of aggression, multiple attacks against the French police were confirmed through the systematic use of incendiary bombs and projectiles. Information from reports attributes the authorship of these episodes of vandalism to far-left terrorists, as well as to groups of Africans and Muslims. In one of the incidents reported during the collapse of public order, a protester confronted an officer directly and was allowed to march by the police without arrest or consequence.
At the end of the official routes, groups of masked protesters refused to disperse and began street battles. Using hammers to rip up cobblestones from the pavement, the protesters continuously threw them at police forces, in addition to launching at least one incendiary device against riot squads. In response to this scenario, security forces massively resorted to the use of tear gas and water cannons to disperse the centers of insurrection.
The authorities' fear of a widespread collapse is based on the serious precedent of October 17, when similar marches ended with a devastating toll of 3,000 looted businesses, intentional fires in public buildings, and severe damage to private property.
To confront the outbreak, the government activated an exceptional police operation of 70,000 police and gendarmes across the national territory, supported by mobile units, armored vehicles, drones, and helicopters. Additionally, the City Hall of Paris deployed 1,000 municipal agents to try to reclaim public space and remove urban objects that could be used to cause damage.
The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, justified the severe measures decreed due to the "very high risk" of disturbances, warning that far-left groups and radicalized sectors used social media to coordinate violent actions taking advantage of the festive coincidence of Halloween. Laurent Nuñez was blunt in warning: "The day is far from over. That means the level of vigilance will not decrease".
Among the restrictive measures adopted by the national Executive, the following stand out:
Prohibition of masking: The concealment of the face under the pretext of costumes was expressly prohibited in the vicinity of the marches.
Night curfews: Applied between 11 PM and 6 AM during the nights from Saturday to Sunday and from Sunday to Monday in key areas such as Place de la République and the commercial area of Châtelet-Les Halles.
