France imposes curfews after police lose control, as Trump and Republicans blame immigration

Overnight curfews were imposed in parts of central Paris and other French cities after a weekend of riots and looting, with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez admitting police had “lost control” in some cities.

Some 550,000 demonstrators took to the streets over the weekend, and officials said more than 2,500 people have been arrested, while a separate count from Saturday’s nationwide protests put arrests at 1,800. About 1,000 police officers were injured. In Limoges, the ornate 19th Century city hall was gutted by a fire started by rioters on Saturday, its clock tower and roof collapsing as the flames took hold. More than 2,000 shops and businesses have been directly impacted by the weekend’s violence, according to Alain Di Crescenzo, head of France’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry, who estimated the damage at hundreds of millions of euros. One demonstrator’s hand was blown off by a police crowd-control grenade, according to AFP.

Police in Paris said a curfew would be in force between 23:00 local time and 06:00 in Place de la République and the Les Halles shopping area, and a ban on unauthorised gatherings was imposed in several other parts of the city centre. Partial curfews restricting movement of young people and gatherings were announced for Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice, Lyon, Lille and other towns. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said local mayors were being given the power to implement curfews where they need, and he did not rule out imposing a state of emergency. Lecornu also announced a partial unemployment fund for those unable to work as a result of the riots and looting. President Macron refused Nuñez’s attempt to resign on Sunday. Nuñez said 200 investigators were analysing CCTV footage to identify possible ringleaders.

From classrooms to the streets

The protests began weeks ago, when high school students started marching over teacher shortages, crumbling classrooms and an opaque university admissions system. The movement widened to broader economic grievances including fuel prices, which have climbed since US strikes effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, and the rising cost of living. The CGT, one of France’s largest unions, backed the movement, calling for lower prices, higher pensions and better wages. According to BBC News, Lecornu alleged that some groups “want to create chaos in our country up until the presidential elections.” Jean-Luc Mélenchon responded by calling for the prime minister to “prove his accusation” or “apologise, shut up, and stop stoking disorder.”

Trump and Republicans blame immigration

Trump wrote “France is burning!” on Truth Social on Sunday, blaming “the immigration of people from an entirely different world” for the violence, and urged Paris to “Close your Borders and take control.” He told reporters at the White House that he had warned Macron he was “making a big mistake,” saying “Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon” and adding, “We closed our borders. He didn’t.” The official White House X account posted: “If you import the third world, you become the third world.” JD Vance, writing a day earlier on X, argued that “Western liberals imported the third world into France,” and said, “This is the future congressional Democrats seek for your country.” The record does not establish the demographic composition of the rioters or whether immigrants played a disproportionate role in the unrest.

House Speaker Mike Johnson posted that France is descending into chaos because of open borders, comparing it to Democrats in America. Senator Eric Schmitt posted: “The anti-civilization Left is devouring France. It will devour America if we let it.” Republican politicians are seeking to use the unrest against Congressional Democrats ahead of the 3 November midterms. Trump and Vance have both publicly backed Marine Le Pen. Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally, described the violence as a convergence of ultra-left extremism and delinquent populations from the suburbs. Giant TV screens at Trump’s rally in Park City, Kansas played Fox News coverage of the unrest, including commentary blaming the trouble on French government immigration policies.

According to BBC News, the US Embassy in France issued an alert advising citizens to avoid areas affected by demonstrations, and China and Germany issued similar travel warnings. Separately, young people have taken to the streets across Europe in Spain, Portugal and Italy over underfunded schools, housing costs and living standards.