Nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were injured, around 2,400 people were arrested, and hundreds of shops were vandalized or looted. Numerous vehicles were also set on fire, while approximately 1,500 businesses suffered damage. Preliminary estimates put the damage at hundreds of millions of euros.
Macron pledged a zero-tolerance approach toward groups inciting unrest and those exploiting the situation to commit crimes. He has not declared a state of emergency or imposed a curfew.
Mr. Macron said: “The choices we must make over the next six months are of vital importance to the country’s future. France has a long democratic tradition and deserves serious debate about its future. Such debates must take place in public forums and through political parties, not through violence in the streets.”
