Burned vehicles, broken store windows, blackened iron structures and furniture lying around...
On the 18th (local time), some streets in Paris, the capital of France, became chaotic after large-scale protests against the rising cost of living swept through the previous day. According to Reuters, the window glass of some stores on the Champs-Élysées in central Paris was also damaged.
A protest by high school students in France, which began last month demanding improved educational environments, grew into a large-scale protest protesting against the rising cost of living and gas prices as workers and others joined in. As some of the protests turned violent, damage continued to occur, with buildings burning and stores being looted across France.
According to Politico's European edition, French authorities announced that more than 1,800 people were arrested in the previous day's protests and that they were investigating whether they were demonstrating illegally.
In Paris, one participant who suffered cardiac arrest during a protest was reported to have died. Authorities explained that the participant died due to health problems and had nothing to do with the clashes with protesters.
On the 17th, the number of people participating in protests across France reached 550,000, according to the French Ministry of the Interior, and 800,000, according to the major trade union Confederation of Labor (CGT). Citizens who sympathized with the 'Yellow Vest' movement, which started in 2018 as a backlash against the government's fuel tax increase and economic inequality and shook France for several months, have joined in.
Amidst peaceful protests, deviant acts such as attacking public buildings and looting stores were also observed.
Reuters reported that while hundreds of thousands of people marched through the streets and peacefully protested in dozens of cities, radical protesters targeted public buildings, looted luxury stores and supermarkets, and attacked police cars and officers.
According to AFP, Hermes stores and other stores were looted in Marseille. In Paris, more than 300 protesters attempted to enter the Champs-Elysées, where luxury brand stores are concentrated.
In Bordeaux, masked crowds stormed the residence of the local administrator, and in Limoges, the 143-year-old city hall building was set on fire. French retailer Carrefour said 50 stores were damaged, 20 of which were looted. It was estimated that about 1,500 French retailers suffered damage worth hundreds of millions of euros due to the protests the previous day.
Reuters reported that “mass protests in France have spread into the worst unrest in years” and that “the protests have spiraled out of control.” “It’s like a war zone,” Dutch entrepreneur Thie Derbourg, who visited Paris, told AFP.
In an article titled 'Never seen anything like it: mass looting grips Paris', AFP reported that on the 17th, looters swarmed into stores across Paris, breaking store windows and sweeping away merchandise, but received no resistance from the authorities.
AFP also reported that restaurants, hotels and residential buildings were largely spared damage, creating a surreal scene where Parisians enjoyed their usual Saturday lunch with friends while crowds created chaos outside.
"I've never seen anything like this," a 38-year-old art teacher who gave her name as Alma told AFP. AFP reported that Alma and a colleague who participated in the march to the Elysee Palace, the presidential residence, said they understood the uprising.
The 29-year-old civil servant told AFP that while he agreed with the right to protest, the looters were "undermining their own goals".
France's leading presidential candidates took advantage of the divided public opinion caused by the protests and engaged in a war of words, attacking the opposing camp. The presidential election to elect French President Emmanuel Macron's successor will be held in six months.
Marine Le Pen, a member of the far-right National Coalition (RN), the leader in approval ratings among presidential candidates, criticized, “Legitimate social demands have once again been abused by the far left.”
At the same time, he criticized extreme leftist presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed (LFI), for instigating the unrest.
Representative Mélenchon claimed on social media that the media only shows scenes of violent clashes and that “everything is going on peacefully and tens of thousands of people are calmly participating in the protests.”
At the same time, he pointed out that the police were using unnecessary excessive force, including pepper spray and tear gas attacks.
Le Pen and Mélenchon are considered candidates most likely to advance to the presidential runoff in several recent opinion polls.
“Violence has no place in our republic,” said President Macron.
According to AFP, Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst at the think tank Eurasia Group, said in a post on the social media “The violence came from some elements of the far left. The looting was done by opportunistic groups from poor suburbs,” he said. “All of this is good news for Marine Le Pen.”
The protests in France appear to be spreading to neighboring countries such as Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal.
The day before, protests against rising prices were held in major Italian cities such as Rome, Milan, Turin, and Bologna, as well as in Lisbon, Portugal. In Belgium, protests by high school students protesting the poor educational environment have continued for several days, centered around Liège in the east, a major French-speaking city.
