Le Figaro Calls Macron's Rebuke of Police 'an Indelible Stain' as France Counts 2,400 Arrests After Riots
The conservative paper blames a lenient justice system, far-left militias and uncontrolled immigration. Macron says the looters must pay and that he hears young people's anguish.
France's leading conservative daily has turned on President Emmanuel Macron after a weekend of rioting.
Fox News reports that an article by Vincent Trémolet de Villers in Le Figaro, published Sunday, blamed years of political failure for the unrest. According to Fox's translation, it described "a judiciary that is lenient toward criminals but unrelenting toward decent citizens" and "the incomprehensible privilege of these far-left militias, who destroy, set fires, and kill with impunity." It also cited "an uncontrolled immigration, in which a portion of the immigrants rebels against the country that took them in."
The paper singled out Macron's earlier calls for police to be more "empathetic" toward officers under attack from bolts, cobblestones and mortar fireworks: "will remain an indelible stain." It said a "technocratic monarchy" has dismantled the safeguards that keep a society standing.
The scale. Fox cites the Associated Press: at least 2,400 arrests nationwide, 855 of them in the Paris region, and more than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters injured, per Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. Authorities estimated about 550,000 people joined Saturday's demonstrations, while organizers said 800,000. Hundreds of businesses were looted, and police used tear gas in Paris on Sunday. The protests were fueled in part by anger over living costs, school conditions and public services.
Macron's response. In a televised address he said "Nothing will excuse their actions," that "those people who looted need to pay for their crimes," and that he hears the "great anguish" of young people about their futures. He ordered more security around public buildings, and some protests may be restricted. He is also under fire for attending a Celine Dion concert with his wife on Friday night, the eve of the demonstrations.
Context. Le Figaro is an opinion-led conservative paper, and the piece is one writer's argument, not a finding. Fox said it could not immediately reach Macron's office or Le Figaro for comment.