France deploys 70,000 officers after mass looting

Near Porte d’Aix in Marseille on Saturday, masked demonstrators dragged large metal plates into the street and built barricades. They threw stones and bottles and set off fireworks at officers. Police answered with heavy tear gas, then advanced with shields and batons.

France had put about 70,000 police and gendarmes on the streets nationwide, backed by helicopters, armored vehicles, water cannons, drones and anti-drone systems. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had told reporters the day before that the state would “let absolutely nothing pass.”

“We will be uncompromising with rioters, looters and all those who commit acts of violence,” Nuñez said. “We will be extremely vigilant.” He added that forces had to be “ultra, ultra responsive.”

The show of force followed the October 17 unrest, when 3,000 stores were damaged or looted and 2,700 people were arrested. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said 217 people had already been sent to prison, half of them first-time offenders. Shopkeepers across Paris boarded their windows. The Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, the Paris Opera and other museums closed for the day. Art Basel Paris ended two days early. A Paris Saint-Germain match against Lyon was postponed. More than 20 Paris metro stations shut.

France’s 10-year bond yield rose above 5 percent on Friday for the first time since 2002. Moody’s opted not to downgrade the sovereign credit rating, sparing the government one more immediate blow while investors watched both the deficit and the disorder.

President Emmanuel Macron canceled a planned trip to Nigeria and Senegal. He accused ultra-left groups of having sought to “bring down the republic” the prior weekend and called for the utmost severity against acts of delinquency.

In Paris, authorities rerouted the main authorized march at the last minute to the southeastern edge of the city. The change angered some who had come to be seen. Vincent Charache, a 35-year-old municipal employee who had traveled two hours by train from Nevers, called it “a strategy to divide and discourage people.” Police put the Paris crowd near 110,000; other counts ran as high as 250,000. Nationwide the Interior Ministry estimated 410,000 protesters; the CGT union claimed 800,000. Separate wires put the day’s total near 440,000, down from about 550,000 the week before, while one early official figure cited 35,000.

Most of the marching stayed calm until evening. In Paris, clashes broke out as the crowd dispersed. Nuñez said the confrontations lasted two hours and involved about 500 rioters at the rear of the column. Journalists saw repeated police charges, tear gas and baton use against mostly young protesters.

“The police started moving towards everyone, telling them to get down and back off. They were just taking people down, you know, beating protesters,” said one demonstrator bleeding from a baton blow to the face who gave only his first name, David.