‘Anger and shame’: Macron denounces France’s nationwide rioting, looting

Video Duration 08 minutes 13 seconds 08: 13.

Key points

• According to The country's Interior Ministry, almost 2, 400 individuals were arrested on Saturday, with concerning 1, 000 police and gendarmes injured.
• Reporting from Paris, Al Jazeera's Natacha Butler remarked Macron's speech had "perhaps no surprises".
• Left-wing presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon remarked the French administration is "solely responsible" for the destruction during protests, and has "failed to organise the maintenance of public order".
• French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed "anger and shame" over what he described as violent protesters' attempts "to bring down the republic".
• Far-right presidential hopeful Jordan Bardella called Macron's Sunday speech "lamentable" and "cowardly", saying the administration has nothing left to offer the French residents and "cannot even protect them".

Macron vows action against protest violence after crisis session over France unrest. By Al Jazeera Staff. Published On 18 Oct 202618 Oct 2026.

After Saturday saw some of the worst urban violence in France in years, in a televised address to the nation on Sunday, Macron promised that rioters and looters would "pay for their crimes".

Macron remarked there must be a distinction between protesters with "legitimate demands" and "those who destroyed, smashed, and looted".

Meanwhile, the president pledged to launch a "crisis unit" to provide "urgent aid. For those who are going through difficult moments". He continued that "lessons will be learned" after the destructive violence erupted this weekend.

"We need to be clear: yesterday, our law enforcement officers and officials, despite their professionalism, were subjected to unprecedented violence in several cities, " he remarked.

"I've asked the government to provide all the lessons learned and to be able to anticipate it to make sure that this does not happen again, " Macron remarked, adding: "We need unity, we need calm and respect."

"Whether it's going to be enough to placate some people, I'm not really sure, because those who have been out protesting say they're fed up of hearing these sorts of speeches by the French president, " Butler remarked.

For context, the protests are rapidly becoming a political football for parties vying for public backing ahead of presidential elections next year.

For now, 'Anger and shame': Macron denounces France's nationwide rioting, looting remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.