French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned what he called “unbridled” violence as fresh clashes and looting erupted in Paris and other cities, a day after nearly 2,400 people were arrested and almost 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were injured in some of the country’s worst urban unrest in years.
In an address to the nation on Sunday, Macron vowed to strengthen security and review the police response but stopped short of announcing drastic measures such as a state of emergency or curfew.“Tonight, we all feel anger and shame,” Macron said, distinguishing between protesters with “legitimate demands” and those who “destroyed, smashed, and looted”.
“Those who have destroyed must pay,” he said, vowing the government would be “uncompromising” towards “agitators from ultra-left fringe groups, joined by numerous delinquents” who had “unleashed unbridled violence in our cities”.
AFP journalists reported that police fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of people gathered in a Paris square on Sunday following social media calls for a gathering that authorities said had not been approved.
