
Many streets of Paris offer a landscape of desolation the day after demonstrations marked by violence, looting and damage.
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Nationwide protests led to violent clashes, damage to public property and looting in Paris and other cities.
Shattered shop windows, looted stores, burnt-out cars... Many streets in the capital presented a scene of desolation on Sunday, October 18, the day after the major day of mobilization. According to the Paris prosecutor's office, 517 people are currently in police custody, 346 adults and 171 minors. The toll could still rise. Follow our live coverage.
• Some 1,200 people arrested across the country, according to Sébastien Lecornu. In its report released Sunday at 8 a.m., the Paris police prefecture announced the arrest of 855 people in the capital, a "record figure." Meanwhile, Rhône prefect Etienne Guyot put the number of arrests in Lyon at 160 during the night from Saturday to Sunday. Among these individuals, "124 are adults, the majority of whom are male."
• At least 150 police officers and gendarmes injured in clashes. "It's a miracle the toll isn't heavier," said Sébastien Lecornu. Furthermore, according to the police prefecture, 13 police officers and gendarmes, as well as 2 firefighters, were injured in the capital.
• "A level of violence we have never seen," lamented the first deputy mayor of Paris. Speaking on franceinfo, Lamia El Araajee mentioned "methodical looting scenes" that plunged Paris into "total dilapidation."
• Alexis Corbière is asking the President of the National Assembly to set up a parliamentary inquiry commission. "We've been seeing things since last night that we've never seen before, it's unprecedented. Well, for unprecedented times, unprecedented measures," reacted the Ecologist and Social deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis on franceinfo. "All political forces combined, we must be able to hear from the stakeholders and understand."
• "The rioters are ruining a movement that is as powerful as it is joyful," deplored Olivier Faure. In an interview with Le Parisien, the head of the Socialist Party deplored the violence that marred Saturday's marches. However, the man who lost the social-democratic primary emphasized the need to modify "the law enforcement doctrine." "De-escalation must be sought, not confrontation, which plays into the hands of rioters who use it to justify their actions," he stressed.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Possible holding of a parliamentary commission of inquiry
Possible · Within weeks
More than 1,800 people were arrested in France the day after urban violence on an unprecedented scale occurred on the sidelines of the demonstrations against the high cost of living on October 17, leading to the fire at the Limoges town hall and major damage.

The police were "completely overwhelmed" by a level of violence "rarely experienced" during demonstrations, according to Rudy Manna, national delegate of Unsa-Police, who evokes a "convergence of barbarians".

More than 1,500 traders were affected by the violence on the sidelines of the October 17 demonstrations in France, causing hundreds of millions of euros in damage according to the FCD. Around 1,800 people were arrested and more than 500 members of the police and firefighters were injured.

Nearly a hundred Limougeauds gathered in front of the town hall after a fire ravaged part of the building, visibly in shock.

Around 1,800 people were arrested following violence on the sidelines of demonstrations in France. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a crisis unit in Matignon, while the IGPN opened an investigation after the injury of a demonstrator in Paris.

Multiple shops and stores were looted and vandalized across France on Saturday afternoon during demonstrations against the high cost of living, leading to 1,200 arrests and drawing an indignant reaction from the government and employers' organizations.