French Interior Minister: Police Lost Control of Protests in Several Cities

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez admitted on Monday that police lost control of the situation in a number of cities after Saturday's nationwide protests against rising living costs turned into riots and clashes with police. President Emmanuel Macron declined to accept the minister's resignation and demanded a review of the security system.

Saturday's protests and planning errors

Around half a million people took part in Saturday's demonstrations across France. Hundreds of shops were looted in major cities. Nuñez said it was simply impossible to look shop owners in the eye and claim that control had not been lost.

The minister acknowledged mistakes in how forces were deployed: there were not enough officers to counter large groups of looters and rioters on the outskirts of protest sites. By his estimate, about 60,000 law enforcement personnel were deployed nationwide that day.

The resignation offer and the president's decision

Nuñez said he had sent Macron his resignation because he felt personally responsible. In his words, given the scale of the destruction, resigning was the only possible decision.

Macron refused. The presidential administration explained that continuous leadership of the police and security forces had to be preserved while the protests continue. The president acknowledged gaps in the government's work on security and intelligence and instructed the minister to ensure transparency about the planning and intelligence failures that led to the outbreak of violence. He also asked for new operational methods to be introduced quickly to deal with rioters.

Unrest continues

Riots and looting went on through Sunday as well. Paris authorities said that about 30 shops in the capital were damaged over the previous 24 hours. According to The Telegraph, disorder in Paris, Lyon and Marseille lasted until Monday morning. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said almost 130 people were detained in the capital between Sunday evening and Monday morning.

Alain Di Crescenzo, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that more than 2,000 shops across France were believed to have been affected over the weekend, with losses running into hundreds of millions of euros.