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Nearly 2,400 people were arrested in France on Saturday after long-simmering protests exploded into some of the country’s most disruptive unrest in years. French President Emmanuel Macron said that the violence was cause for “anger and shame,” after rioters ransacked hundreds of shops following mass demonstrations in Paris. Government buildings were vandalized in multiple cities, contributing to a sense of national crisis that could boost leading far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen six months before elections. The unrest renders an unfavorable verdict on Macron, Le Monde wrote, who once promised “social emancipation” but has been deserted by young voters amid “deteriorating public finances, slower economic growth, and rising unemployment.” The protests mark “the twilight of Macronism,” the left-wing economist Thomas Piketty argued.
document fetched 2026-10-23 22:19 · canonical https://semafor.com/article/10/18/2026/thousands-arrested-after-violent-unrest-roils-france