France: Hundreds arrested after nationwide protests
The French government says more than 1,000 people were arrested following nationwide protests on Saturday. Police and elite security forces were out in force across the country as clashes broke out.
According to French authorities, 1,314 people were arrested during nationwide protests on Saturday, October 24, 2026. The Interior Ministry reported 53 police officers and other security personnel were injured, while firefighters responded to 75 fires and 24 businesses were looted. Clashes erupted in major cities including Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Tours, with police using tear gas.
The ministry attributed the confrontations to radical far-left activists. Estimates of participants ranged from 410,000 to possibly 800,000 across 289 demonstrations and gatherings. This was a significant decline from the previous week's protests, where 550,000 people took part in 289 events. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez reported nearly 1,000 arrests, with the number expected to rise as officials tally the events of the day.
The unrest was considerably smaller compared to last Saturday's protests, which saw buildings defaced and burned, and around 1,500 shops looted. While some clashes occurred between protesters and police in various cities, the overall situation was calmer than the previous weekend.
Written by urgent.news from DW News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
