France plans 'massive' weekend police surge amid protests

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu told parliament the government would respond and reinforce police in major cities. He also accused extreme-left groups of trying to hijack what began as protests. DW has more.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said adequate support for police was essential, both to allow public protests and to keep the peace.

France was rocked over the weekend by some of its worst rioting in recent years over amid anti-government protests.

Curfews on Monday night helped restore calm, Lecornu said, with more planned as necessary going forward.

Protests and unrest have spread to several European countries, with people demanding government action to tackle the unaffordability crisis at the heart of many of these demonstrations.

Demonstrations have also spread to Portugal, where protesters are calling for action on affordable housing.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said 500 troops would be sent to the city of Milan until January. They will help police after violent clashes in the city over the weekend.

Meloni said a Cabinet meeting also approved measures to make the detention of minors easier, to impose fines on their parents for any damage and to introduce the crime of "violent participation in a demonstration."

"Protesting is a right, devastating our cities is not," Meloni said in a video on X.

At least four other cities — Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice and Marseille — have announced continued localized restrictions that will take effect on Tuesday night.

In Lyon, the prefect of the Rhone region, ordered another curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in what's known colloquially as the hypercentre of the old city — an area spanning the first and second Arondissements and other key historic zones like the city hall, the Place Bellecour pedestrian square and the commercial and historic neighborhood Les Cordeliers.

Prefect Etienne Guyot also said a ban on what French authorities term attroupements — gatherings of people deemed to have the potential to threaten public order — from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. would also apply.

In Bordeaux, unaccompanied minors will not be allowed on the streets from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. "in the sectors particularly affected by the pillages of October 17," Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said.

She said this was aimed to "prevent all new attacks on businesses" in a series of key central streets and squares. The restrictions were set to apply until next Monday, October 26.

And to the south in Nice, the city center sector, the old city and the Trachel-Gare du Sud sectors will be restricted from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. until Sunday, October 25.

Authorities in Marseille, France's second-largest city, announced a nightly curfew for unaccompanied minors from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. through Friday in central shopping streets and sensitive areas.

Paris police said on Tuesday evening that a curfew would be in effect from 11 p.m. local time until 6 a.m. in the heart of the city center in the 1st arrondissement district, known as des Halles, and at the Place de la Republique.

The 1st arrondissement is home to the Louvre Museum, the Arc de Triomphe, and Paris' famous commercial shopping street the Rue de Rivoli, among other landmarks near the banks of the River Seine.

Beyond this, police also announced a ban on protesting — but not a full curfew — in a series of areas in the capital. The same parts of the city would be affected as was the case with the broader restrictions of Monday night, the prefecture said.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has told French lawmakers that authorities would mobilize a "massive" security presence next weekend, after organizers announced plans for new protests.

"The deployment for next Saturday will be massive," Lecornu said in the National Assembly.

He said the security operation last weekend had been "too static and not mobile enough."

Lecornu said adequate support for security forces was "the precondition for everything" when trying to both allow peaceful protests but also keep order, saying that "1,000 injured police and gendarmes over the weekend" nationwide was unacceptable.

Lecornu said the national public message in response should convey to them "clear, frank and massive support."

The prime minister also accused what he referred to as small ultra-left and extreme-left groups in certain locations of forging an "insurrectionary plan" that fueled the violent rioting over the weekend for which the government could provide evidence.

"What happened at the mayoral office of Limoges was an example. You have a first arrest that was carried out this morning," Lecornu said. "This individual arrested is, unfortunately, already known to [security] services."

He said authorities would not tolerate such groups "marching on the Elysee or Matignon," referring to the offices and residences of President Emmanuel Macron and himself as head of government, and saying that some of these groups had harbored such ambitions.

The Paris police prefecture has launched an online portal inviting people to upload evidence of criminal unrest over the weekend.

"Witness to violence, damage, or looting in recent days? The [Paris police prefecture] has decided to create a dedicated platform," it wrote online.

It urged people who thought they might have relevant information not to delay.

"Send all your images to the police services to help them quickly identify and apprehend the perpetrators," police said.

Italy will approve new security measures targeting minors on Tuesday, government politicians said, after days of unrest in several cities, but particularly in Milan.

Under the planned rules, authorities will be authorized to detain people under the age of 18 for up to 12 hours, even if they have not committed a crime, provided there is evidence they pose a threat, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said.

"We want to intervene quickly on young people," Salvini told the RTL radio broadcaster ahead of a meeting of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Cabinet called on Tuesday to approve the measures.

Rome is also expected to deploy an additional 500 army troops in Milan as authorities fear more widespread unrest at demonstrations planned for Saturday.

The French student and youth protests first showed signs of spilling into Italy on Friday, with initially peaceful events coinciding with the pre-existing anti-government protest magnet known as "No Meloni Day."

The unrest persisted and intensified heading into the weekend as several hundred hooded individuals, many of them thought to be minors, set fires and looted shops in the centers of Milan and other cities.

Meloni has passed a steady stream of security and law-and-order crackdowns since taking office in 2022, visible among other places in the prison population increasing by almost one-fifth, or around 10,000 people, over four years.

French authorities have arrested a 40-year-old man in connection with the fire that destroyed the historic Limoges town hall during unrest over the weekend.

The building, dating from 1883, was engulfed by fire on Saturday. Its roof and belfry collapsed, making the building's destruction a symbol of the violence that accompanied nationwide protests.

The suspect was arrested by RAID, France's elite police unit, near Limoges. Prosecutors say he had previously been flagged as a potential security threat.

France's Counter-Terrorism Sub-Directorate has joined the investigation, while Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin says anti-terror prosecutors will decide whether to classify the case as a terrorist act.

In Paris, sights of e-bikes thrown into burning piles became a common sight over the weekend, prompting bike makers Dott and Lime to assess their losses.

Shared mobility operator Dott, in a statement to Reuters on Monday, said that about 300 of its electric bikes were destroyed and 120 severely damaged in Paris, during the nationwide anti-government protests on Saturday. The company has about 6,000 bikes in the city.

Dott also said 80 vehicles, including bikes and scooters were destroyed in Bordeaux and another 30-40 scooters in Lyon. It estimates the damage at about €400,000 ($450,000).

Lime, another entity for shared electric bikes, said 6% of its Paris fleet was destroyed or damaged.

Ahead of demonstrations, Lime said it worked with the police to remove vehicles from designated protest routes and restricted parking or riding in high-risk areas.

Smovengo, operator of the Vélib' Métropole bike-sharing service in Paris, told Reuters that some 300 of its 20,000 bike fleet were damaged or stolen over the weekend.

E-bikes often use lithium-ion batteries that can ignite and produce intense fires and toxic smoke.

There was no indication that e-bike operators were specifically targeted during the protests. Rather, their ready availability likely played a role as protesters used them to build barricades or build fires.

France will impose new curfews in areas where they are required, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Tuesday after the first night of partial curfews in major cities including Paris.

Lecornu said the targeted curfews had helped keep the peace overnight after a turbulent weekend that saw protesters take aim at state institutions.

"Targeted curfews have contributed to calm overnight," the premier wrote on X. "Tonight new curfews will be decided where the situation requires it. These decisions will be made on the ground, by the prefects, in coordination with the Mayors," he said.

Police confirmed the night had passed without major incidents across France.

US President Donald Trump on Monday cited the unrest in France as an example while warning of what he alleged could happen in the United States if opposition Democrats were in power, without providing evidence to support the claim.

At a rally supporting the Republican Senate candidate in Kansas, Trump described France as a formerly great nation that had been "conquered, looted, and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists and communists."

"When you see burning steeples and raging fires in France, just remember that is what the radical Democrats want to do to America," he said.

Ahead of the rally, Trump told reporters at the White House that he had warned French President Emmanuel Macron he was "making a big mistake."

"The whole world was coming in, and as you know, Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon, and that wasn't the deal," he said, adding: "We closed our borders. He didn't."

French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to punish those responsible for the rioting and violence over the weekend.

He also acknowledged "failures in anticipation and intelligence" by police and sought to make clear the distinction between rioters and demonstrators.