On Sunday (18 October), French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation over the public’s “anger” and “shame” over rioting and looting during nationwide protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools.
Macron and other government officials have blamed radical far-left groups and criminal elements. He accused them of attacking police and public buildings to foment chaos. He vows that those responsible will be held accountable. Approximately 2,400 people have been arrested so far, and hundreds of police officers have been injured.
In a televised address to the nation, Macron said: “Those who looted will have to pay for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable.”
Jamais nous ne devons confondre nos compatriotes qui ont manifesté avec la volonté de porter des revendications légitimes, avec ceux qui ont détruit, pillé, cassé. https://t.co/3mhsCzCNOb
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 18, 2026
“Shops were looted, and public buildings, businesses and town halls were attacked,” Macron said. “Watching these images, we were all wondering: what had got into them? How can French people do that to France?” He added that “nothing can justify it, explain it or excuse it”.
The violence erupted after an estimated 550,000 people took to the streets on Saturday to protest rising fuel prices, the cost of living and deteriorating public services, including schools. During the protest, masked groups set fire to buildings, attacked public infrastructure and looted businesses in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Limoges and other cities.
Macron earlier held an emergency meeting with senior government officials. After a masked group set fires and attacked city halls in several cities. He said he had instructed prefects to work with mayors to protect public buildings and businesses in the coming weeks, including by banning protests when necessary.
In Limoges, flames engulfed the 19th-century town hall, causing its roof and clock tower to collapse. In Marseille, masked protesters forced their way into the city hall lobby, while a fire broke out at a tourist office in Lyon. The Interior Ministry reported that 2,397 people were detained and 997 police officers and gendarmes were injured, seven of them seriously. A 22-year-old police officer was killed in Nantes after being struck by a vehicle, and a protester died following a cardiorespiratory arrest near Paris.
Macron said the country deserved a “fine presidential election” marked by debates “with the parties, rather than in the streets with violence”. He also announced that Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu would hold meetings with trade unions, student organisations and community representatives in the coming days to develop responses to social demands.
The Interior Ministry said further clashes erupted in Paris on Sunday, with police firing tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of people gathered at Place de la République following social media calls for an unapproved demonstration.
The Islamist-leftist angle
In late September 2026, protests began in France over education grievances. The initial protests involved school blockades, strikes and marches by thousands.
However, later communists and Islamists started participating in the protests. Soon, Keffiyeh-donning people started creating chaos, vandalising, setting fires at schools and clashing with law enforcement personnel.
According to an investigation done by Asra Nomani, French ‘student protests’ tracked over 50 organisations involved in organising, backing, and amplifying the protests.
Out of 50, only 15 were student or youth groups. The majority, 35 groups, were Labour unions, communist, socialist and left human rights groups, Palestinian advocacy group and political parties, which include La France Insoumise and the French Communist Party.
La militante écologiste Greta Thunberg est présente au lycée Paul-Éluard de Saint-Denis pour soutenir le mouvement de blocus lycéen en France. https://t.co/z961LpUGVq
— CLPRESS / Agence de presse (@CLPRESSFR) October 13, 2026
Hammer and sickle alongside Palestinian flags and Keffiyehs can be seen at on-the-ground protest sites doing vandalism. Pro-Palestinian activists alongside far-left extremist leaders hijacked the protest.
On the ground in Paris and other protest-hit areas, hammer-and-sickle flags appeared alongside Palestinian flags and Keffiyehs. Far-left political leaders also joined protesters, and pro-Palestine ‘activists’ mixed into the actions.
Les Soulèvements de la Terre, or “Earth Uprisings,” called a so-called “antifascist uprising” by declaring “Glory to the rebellious high school students.”
Climate crusader turned activist-on-demand Greta Thunberg also extended support to the protests. Experts are seeing this as an “unholy” red-green alliance. They turned school demands into a broader anti-system, anti-Israel, anti-capitalist confrontation.
Although Leftists/Communists and Islamists have nothing in common ideologically. Hatred for Jews, Christians, and Hindus, as well as for political leaders and parties that do not believe in appeasing and accommodating Islamists and Islamism in the name of secularism, puts them on common ground.
