Macron Blames Far-Left 'Insurrectionist Elements' for France Riots, Leaves for Gulf Today to Secure Fuel Supplies

Since Saturday's nationwide protest day, Oct. 17, ended in arson, looting and street fighting, President Emmanuel Macron has spoken publicly for the first time, in a televised address Sunday evening, Oct. 18.

His message: the violence was the work of a minority, and that minority will pay.

"Those who looted will have to pay back for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable," Macron said. He blamed "unrestrained violence" on "insurrectionist elements from radical far-left groups, joined by numerous criminals."

Macron separates marchers from rioters

Macron drew a line between the two groups. Several hundred thousand citizens, he said, demonstrated "with the intention of making legitimate demands." Others "destroyed, vandalised, and looted."

He asked why anyone would burn the Limoges town hall or the Lyon tourist office, storm the town hall in Marseille, or attack the prefect's residence in Bordeaux. "Nothing justifies it, nothing explains it, nothing excuses it," he said. "We all feel anger and shame tonight."

On the grievances behind the marches, he said he fully understood the concern over living costs and fuel prices, and said similar worry is being expressed in other European capitals. He tied the energy squeeze to the conflict between the United States and Iran, adding that France did not take part in it.

Macron said he will continue efforts to guarantee fuel and gas supplies by traveling to the Gulf countries Monday morning, today. TradingView reported that he also authorized additional restrictions on protests where needed to protect businesses and government property.

The toll as it stands

Authorities counted about 550,000 marchers nationwide. Organizers counted about 800,000.

The arrest figure has climbed through the weekend. Police put it at 1,800 on Sunday, including 855 in the Paris region, where prosecutors said 557 people were held in custody. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez's later figures are 2,400 arrests and nearly 1,000 injured police officers, gendarmes and firefighters. His earlier count was more than 500 injured.

One demonstrator died of a heart attack in Paris, according to Paris police. The Paris prosecutors' office is investigating. Another protester lost a hand, and officers used tear gas and water cannons in several cities.

Haute-Vienne prefect Maurice Barate said the fire that gutted the 19th-century Limoges city hall was deliberately set. The roof collapsed, and he said about two-thirds of the building's exterior was lost. He called it "a catastrophe for heritage." The fire was under control Sunday.

Retailers count the damage

Carrefour said 50 of its stores were damaged, 20 of them looted. Chief Executive Alexandre Bompard put the company's losses at tens of millions of euros.

Economy Minister Roland Lescure pledged government help for affected merchants and said those responsible would face consequences.

In Paris, looters hit a Monoprix supermarket near Place de la République and the Galeries Lafayette department store on Boulevard Haussmann. Municipal workers began clearing debris Sunday, even as police used tear gas near République and intervened in Marseille to stop further attacks on businesses.

Who owns the unrest

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu wrote on X that "ultra-left groups organized the violence in several cities." He warned anyone treating it as a "warm-up" for the April 2027 presidential election that the government will not back down.

Some of the movement's own veterans back the claim that the far left took over. Benjamin Cauchy, a prominent 2018 Yellow Vest, told Europe 1 that the France Unbowed (LFI) party was using the Yellow Vests "as a Trojan horse." Another veteran told France 24 she saw "a takeover from all sides by the far left."

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the France Unbowed presidential candidate, took a different line. He pressed Macron to address the students' grievances. The protests began last month with Paris high school students complaining of teacher shortages and poor facilities before widening into a cost-of-living revolt. Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, condemned the destruction and urged an end to the violence.

On the right, Breitbart faulted Macron for not taking personal responsibility and for omitting any mention of immigration. It cited suspicions that many rioters came from suburban areas such as Saint-Denis. No official quoted in the coverage of the address has tied the violence to immigration. Nuñez's statement framed it as a line between protest and violence: "The right to protest is a fundamental right. Deliberately and collectively sowing disorder through violence is not."

What comes next

The more than 550 people held in Paris custody face prosecutors' decisions this week. The Paris prosecutors' investigation into the protester's death is open. Macron's Gulf trip, his first move after the address, is meant to address the fuel prices that brought hundreds of thousands into the streets before the rioting began. Whether that moves the numbers, or the mood, ahead of the April 2027 election is unanswered.