France prepares for another round of weekend protests
France is taking extensive measures to prepare for another expected wave of violence and protests on Saturday, a week after the country experienced some of the worst rioting it has faced in years. French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez have been on a public-relations blitz to prevent another […]
France is taking extensive measures to prepare for another expected wave of violence and protests on Saturday, a week after the country experienced some of the worst rioting it has faced in years.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez have been on a public-relations blitz to prevent another weekend of chaos after they acknowledged failures in judgment last weekend. Lecornu admitted earlier in the week that the riots were assisted by intelligence failures, a static, rather than mobile, police response, and the decision not to cancel leave for police officers. The government is looking to ensure that no such failures or oversights are repeated this weekend, going further to enforce police with military units and canceling all protests not sanctioned by unions.
” data-large-file=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/france-prepares-for-another-round-of-weekend-protests.webp” src=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/france-prepares-for-another-round-of-weekend-protests.webp” alt=”France” class=”wp-image-4777105″ srcset=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/france-prepares-for-another-round-of-weekend-protests.webp 1024w, https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/france-prepares-for-another-round-of-weekend-protests.webp?resize=300,200 300w, https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/france-prepares-for-another-round-of-weekend-protests.webp?resize=768,512 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>A protester holds a placard with a photo of French president Emmanuel Macron and a guillotine in front of a burning tourism office during a demonstration against rising living costs and in solidarity with students’ grievances in Lyon, France, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
The decision was announced by Macron after a National Security Council meeting with intelligence chiefs on Thursday. Only one protest was approved for Saturday, and only along a route approved by police.
Speaking after the meeting at the Elysée on Thursday, after returning from a three-day tour of the Gulf, Macron admitted “failures in anticipation and surprise effects” last Saturday, then called for the punishment of “criminal acts” and “political and even seditious acts.” Echoing the harsh language used by other officials, he attributed the violence to “ultra-left” groups, which he accused of trying to “bring down the Republic.”
Life in Paris will also face restrictions. Roughly 24 metro stations will be closed along the expected route of protests. Most of Paris’s main museum attractions, including the Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Foundation Cartier, Foundation Louis Vuitton, Grand Palais, the Louvre, Musée de l’Orangerie, Musée d’Orsay, and the Picasso Museum, will all be closed on Saturday, according toAfar magazine. The art fair Art Basel Paris will end days early over the protests, closing on Friday. A curfew remains in place.
Other cities have taken even harsher measures. At least 19 cities, including Nantes, Narbonne, Avignon, and Montpellier, banned protests altogether. Two imposed curfews and seven imposed curfews for minors.
French authorities up to Macron have been explicit in blaming established left-wing groups in the country for last weekend’s violence. On Monday and Tuesday, Lecornu began detailing the role left-wing groups played in the unrest, telling parliament on Tuesday that unrest stemmed from an “insurrectionary plan” from left-wing groups in the country.
Responding to a question from an MP, Lecornu referenced “the planning, in certain places, of an insurrectionary scheme led by far-left and ultra-left fringe groups.”
“We do not tolerate seditious fringe groups being able to march on the Élysée, on Matignon,” he said of the riots, referring to the residences of the president and prime minister, respectively.
“One must choose sides between violence and the Republic,” Lecornu said.
In an Oct. 1 government crisis meeting, French intelligence agencies pinned direct blame on left-wing politicians for hijacking student protests and turning them more radical. “Shared assessment by the intelligence services on the origin of the movement: an operation organised by LFI (France Unbowed) and its proxies on the far left,” a readout of the meeting said.
LFI, run by Jean-Luc Melenchon, is a socialist party that has surged in the polls in recent years, becoming ever more influential in national politics. Melenchon has spent much of his time since the weekend denouncing the government’s response, claiming it is overblown and authoritarian.
“Macron’s camp is destroying the republican state. On Saturday, the army is guarding buildings instead of the police, and the Paris police prefect is asking shopkeepers to call on private security guards… And the Prime Minister is convening chitchat meetings with no objective,” he said in a Thursday post on X.
Melenchon urged protesters to go ahead with protests on Tuesday.
“Youth unions are calling for a demonstration this Saturday, October 24. Our duty is clearly laid out. We must help them, protect them,” he said. “Rebellious ones, male and female, you are all requisitioned. Put on a white armband, help the youth!”
Further tragedy struck France on Friday when a gunman shot several people in Trappes and La Verrière, killing one and wounding several others. The shooting is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack.
