PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday voiced the public’s “anger” and “shame” over rioting and looting during nationwide protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. At least 2,400 people were arrested.
Mr. Macron echoed other government officials in blaming much of the violence on far-left activists, accusing them of attacking police and public buildings to foment chaos.
“Those who looted will have to pay for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable,” Mr. Macron said in a televised address to the nation.
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He denounced “unrestrained violence” by “insurrectionist elements from radical far-left groups, joined by numerous criminals.”
Mr. Macron earlier held an emergency meeting with senior government officials, a day after masked groups set fires and attacked city halls in several cities. He said he had instructed prefects to work with mayors to protect public buildings and businesses in the coming weeks, including by banning protests when necessary.
Flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall in the city of Limoges, in central France, causing its roof to collapse and nearly destroying the building.
In Paris, hundreds of protesters gathered again on Sunday at the Place de la Republique amid a heavy police presence. Officers used tear gas as tensions flared sporadically in the neighborhood, with small groups of people trying to set bicycles and trash bins on fire.
“The right to protest is a fundamental right. Deliberately and collectively sowing disorder through violence is not,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez wrote on X, citing the looting of hundreds of businesses across the country.
Authorities estimated Saturday’s marches had a turnout of about 550,000, while organizers put it at 800,000. Demonstrators answered calls from a labor union, student organizations and activists hoping to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 to protest social injustice.
Mass protests in France are often marred by violence on the fringes of otherwise peaceful marches, leading to clashes with police. The arrest tally reported Sunday approached the nearly 2,000 recorded nationwide during a single day of yellow vest protests in December 2018.
Paris police said one person died of a heart attack, without providing details. The Paris prosecutor’s office said it was investigating.
Dislodged cobblestones, shattered storefronts and broken glass littered the area around Paris’ Place de la Republique on Sunday. Looting and damage were also reported in other tourist and shopping districts.
Paris police said 855 people were arrested in the capital region. Prosecutors said 557 remained in police custody.
“I am actually stunned by the level of destruction and violence that was expressed,” said government employee Marie Peyreigne, 57, wondering what had led to the mayhem.
Parisians inspecting the damage photographed the partially dismantled base of the square’s central monument, a statue of Marianne, a symbol of France.
Jean Foissy, 74, said he had wanted to join the protest but encountered “a wall of riot police and fires everywhere” and returned home.
“I was very scared,” he said. “I’ve been a Parisian since I was born, so when I got here, it almost made me want to cry because I find it so bad, it hurts me.”
Margaux Eude, 26, said she supported the protest movement but “didn’t think it would escalate like this.”
“It’s the troublemakers who came, and it breaks my heart because it delegitimizes the movement,” she said.
Political leaders traded accusations over Saturday’s violence ahead of next spring’s presidential election.
Far-right leader and presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen criticized Mr. Macron’s centrist government as “exhausted, disoriented and seemingly incapable of doing anything other than commenting on its own powerlessness,” in a video posted on social media.
Far-left contender Jean-Luc Melenchon accused Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu of “playing with fire,” alleging that “by banking on degradation, you have only succeeded in uniting all youths and workers’ unions.”
U.S. President Trump posted “France is burning!” on his Truth Social platform, apparently linking the unrest to “the immigration of people from an entirely different world.”
“Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!” he wrote.
French authorities and police have not linked immigrants to the rioting. Mr. Macron, speaking about troublemakers, asked: “How can French people do this to France?”
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