French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged Monday that authorities had failed to anticipate the October 17 violence and had not deployed enough police, as he warned that another day of protests on October 31 posed fresh security risks.
Speaking during a visit to Marseille, Macron said there had been insufficient forces in the city and elsewhere. “We had not at all anticipated what happened,” he said, according to AFP’s account of his remarks. The quotations are translated from French.
Macron said authorities had not expected far-left groups to mobilize so early in the morning, followed by criminal activity. He acknowledged that police deployments were not proportionate to what unfolded. Those explanations were the president’s account, rather than independent findings about who organized the violence.
Protecting shops and public buildings
Macron said declared demonstration routes would remain outside city centers to protect shops and public buildings. He described Saturday, October 31, as another day “at risk” and also pointed to a nationwide mobilization planned for Thursday, November 5.
The remarks came at Marseille’s city hall, which demonstrators briefly entered and damaged on October 17. Macron also met merchants affected by looting during the unrest, AFP reported.
He said the authorities’ first priority was maintaining order and protecting people and property. He argued that public order was being maintained without a state of emergency, while saying that such a measure was not ruled out if conditions worsened.
In the same remarks, reproduced in franceinfo’s report and transcript, Macron said protest routes would be kept outside city centers so demonstrations could take place peacefully without putting businesses at risk.
File photo: Emmanuel Macron, August 2024. Photo: Simon Dawson / No.10 Downing Street, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Cropped from the original photograph.
JBizNews Desk | Marseille, France
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