The mayor: "We are the shame of Europe today - we lost control completely"

Rage, sadness and shock. Affected citizens, shopkeepers and other business people around France said in French media on Monday that they are deeply disappointed and deeply shaken by the riots that Saturday's planned demonstrations resulted in.

- I have submitted my resignation because I am responsible for everything that is happening, the Minister of the Interior explained to the France Inter radio channel on Monday morning.

But Emmanuel Macron rejected his application by return mail. Macron justifies his decision by saying that the country "needs continuous leadership for the forces of law and order in the current situation". The French president instead demanded that new measures be taken against the rioters who engaged in looting, smashing and setting cars on fire. Among other things, he can consider banning certain gatherings.

The mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, has taken strong words:

- We are the shame of Europe today. What we saw was an almost total loss of control. No one can listen to anyone anymore. They have made the police and the protesters into cannon fodder. The orderly force was overpowered because they were too few and were not organized, he tells BFMTV.

After the looting that occurred in Marseille over the weekend, the municipality has felt compelled to set up a psychological support group to which people who have been affected in various ways by the violence can turn. Shop staff and traders are considered to be hardest hit. Several of them testify to traumatic experiences that will leave a mark – and this does not only apply in Paris and Marseille:

- We tried to stay to protect our stores. But in the end it didn't work. It was too chaotic. The vandals broke in with paving stones and parasols as accessories, says a trader in Rennes.

The mayors of Paris and Lyon also demand answers from the government:

- Our cities are used to demonstrations and the public expressing their dissatisfaction and demands. But last Saturday something completely new happened: for the first time we had the feeling that entire parts of our cities had been left without protection, they told Libération.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez admits that the police lost control. He has also pointed out that the saboteurs who joined the original protesters were more than expected. He has also singled out what he calls "the ultra-left movement" as supporters.

The public prosecutor in Paris, Laure Beccuau, tells TF1, however, that she "absolutely cannot confirm" that those who committed acts of violence in Paris are "persons with extreme left-wing orientation".

- Those who have been taken into custody are mostly unknown people who do not want to talk to the police. They also make no political demands, she says in the interview.

She also says that "unfortunately, everyone who has committed vandalism has not been arrested".

All mayors in France are now being asked to gather in front of the town halls from 12 o'clock today to "condemn the serious attacks against the democratic institutions".