About 550,000 demonstrators took to the streets in France on 17 October to protest deteriorating public services, the cost of living, and rising fuel prices. Police arrested approximately 1,800 people during the unrest.
Widespread looting occurred in the cities of Lille, Marseille, and Paris. Riot police deployed water cannons and tear gas to manage crowds in Paris.
At least one restaurant in Paris was destroyed by fire. Protesters used a metal fence as a battering ram to break into the city hall in Marseille.
Police reported that a McDonald's in Lille was set on fire. An Apple store in Lille was looted after people broke into the premises.
Designer stores including Versace, Gucci, and Ralph Lauren suffered smashed glass frontages in Paris. Sébastien Lecornu claimed that 150 police officers were injured during the unrest.
France's interior ministry claimed that Saturday's protests involved "targeted acts of violence" from "hooded individuals". Damage to buildings was reported in several locations including Montpellier, Valence, Pau, Avignon, and Grenoble.
Fire crews fought a blaze at the Limoges town hall, which caused part of the structure to collapse. Local officials claimed the town hall was "largely lost".
Grégory Doucet said "it breaks our hearts because it's a very iconic, well-known historic building" and called the situation "a tragedy". Maurice Barate described the crowd as "A wild horde".
Régis Juanico stated that "Such a tragedy should never have happened" and noted that a man "had his hand blown off". Student protests have seen hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets since late last month.
