French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered his resignation over the weekend following a wave of rioting and looting that swept through several major cities, but President Emmanuel Macron has requested that he remain in his post. The decision, announced by the President’s office on Monday, was made based on the perceived necessity for continuous law enforcement command during the current emergency.
President Macron has tasked Nuñez with implementing new, more effective policing tactics as quickly as possible to suppress the ongoing violence. Furthermore, the President has instructed the Minister to ensure complete transparency regarding the specific failures in planning and intelligence-gathering that allowed the recent unrest to escalate.
The violence erupted on Saturday during nationwide protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. By Sunday evening, the situation had intensified as groups set fire to bicycles, trash bins, and various other objects, while looting businesses across Paris, Lyon, Marseille, and other municipalities. Authorities confirmed that at least 2,400 people have been arrested across the country. In one instance of severe damage, the 19th-century City Hall in Limoges was set ablaze, leading to the collapse of its roof and the near-total destruction of the structure.
Speaking on France Inter radio on Monday, Nuñez acknowledged his responsibility for the events. He characterized the perpetrators as “hordes of troublemakers and looters” and “far-left activists,” while admitting that police strategy must be adapted to counter these “extremely mobile groups.” He conceded that authorities had “lost control” in certain major cities on Saturday, noting that it is impossible to ignore the plight of shopkeepers who suffered as hundreds of businesses were looted. “You can’t look shopkeepers in the eye when hundreds of businesses have been looted and say we haven’t lost control in some of these major cities. Obviously,” Nuñez said. “Now, the real issue is ensuring that this doesn’t happen again. … We obviously need to be better at anticipating the kind of mobilization that is unfolding.”
In response to the volatility, the prefect in Marseille has banned all protests and public gatherings from noon to 8 p.m. on Monday.
