France imposes curfews after weekend riots, as minister admits policing failures and protests over schools and prices spread

Paris: France’s interior minister admitted on Monday that police lost control in some cities during Saturday’s violent protests, as President Emmanuel Macron demanded a full review of the security response and new methods to stop the rioting and looting.

The protests have deep roots in grievances that many French families say have gone unanswered. They began in mid-September when students at a high school in Creteil, near Paris, protested crumbling buildings, overcrowded classes and a shortage of teachers, and demanded more school funding, more staff and urgent repairs. The movement then spread, gaining support from unions and from former “yellow vest” activists, as demonstrators broadened their demands to include relief from high fuel and living costs. Protesters and their supporters say a government focused on cutting France’s debt has let public services decay while ordinary households pay more, and that the heavy-handed policing of teenage protesters, including serious injuries to students, has deepened the anger.

Laurent Nunez blamed a lack of anticipation in preparing for the demonstrations and acknowledged that police numbers had at times been too low to cope with rioters and looters operating on the fringes of the marches, with forces in cities including Paris and Lyon overwhelmed. He said it was impossible to face shopkeepers after hundreds of shops had been looted and claim the situation was under control. Around 2,000 shops were ransacked across the country, and masked rioters attacked town halls, police stations and other government buildings.

Nunez offered his resignation, saying he felt responsible, but Macron declined it, citing the need for continuity in the police chain of command. The president instead asked him to find new ways to deal with looters and to ensure transparency over the failures in planning and intelligence behind the violence. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin also pointed to intelligence failings that left the state exposed.

The interior ministry said about 550,000 people marched on Saturday, while a trade union put the figure above 800,000. More than 2,000 people have been arrested, and hundreds of police officers and firefighters were injured.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said he had asked local authorities to impose partial curfews from Monday evening and that a state of emergency remained an option. The unrest grew out of the movement that began with students protesting dilapidated schools and has widened to cover living costs and public services.