France Deploys 70,000 Officers to Contain Possible Halloween Unrest
France mobilized 70,000 officers after nationwide protests. 565 detentions were announced and about fifty Paris metro stations remained closed. Here are the details.
Key points
- The government deployed 70,000 officers nationwide, with drones, helicopters and armored vehicles.
- By 9 p.m. local time, 565 detentions had been announced across France.
- About fifty Paris metro stations were closed, and a curfew is in place in two areas of the capital.
- Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned that gatherings will be dispersed.
French police reorganized their security operation in several cities for Halloween night, amid fears of vandalism like that seen during the October 17 protests.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned that security forces are "firmly waiting" for anyone who intends to confront them tonight. He explained that the operation was designed to be mobile and reactive, with units able to intervene wherever necessary. He added that gatherings will be dispersed and that people who remain on site will be arrested.
The government deployed an exceptional operation of 70,000 officers across the country, including police, gendarmes, mobile units, armored vehicles, drones and helicopters. By 9 p.m. Local time, 565 detentions had been announced, a lower figure than those recorded on October 17 (2,628) and October 24 (1,314). Nuñez said officers checked up to 40,000 people nationwide, 15,000 of them in the Paris region.
In Paris and Marseille, France's two largest cities, authorities are especially on alert. In the capital, about fifty metro stations remained closed, and a curfew took effect at 11 p.m. Local time at Place de la République and the Châtelet-Les Halles area. Several social media accounts called for protests in those zones, and any demonstration other than the one authorized this Saturday is banned.
The union-backed day of action drew about 320,000 people according to official figures, fewer than the previous Saturday and far fewer than on October 17. Incidents occurred at the end of demonstrations in cities including Paris, Marseille, Rennes, Lyon, Nantes and Toulouse. Among them, a mobile-unit gendarme was lightly injured after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at him; Nuñez called it an "attempted murder" and blamed "far-left" groups.
Nuñez warned that the day is not over and that vigilance levels will not be lowered.
Why it matters
If you live in France or are traveling there, expect movement restrictions and transit closures during protests.