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France puts 70,000 police on the streets and restricts marches before Saturday protests

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced about 70,000 police and gendarmes for the 24 October protests as cities restricted or banned marches and Macron met student representatives.

File photo: Paris, Île-de-France
File photo: Paris, Île-de-France

Photo: Yann Caradec from Paris, France, CC BY-SA 2.0

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Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on 23 October that about 70,000 police officers and gendarmes would be deployed nationwide for the 24 October protests, with helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannons, about 20 percent more than the previous weekend. He said radical far-left groups had called on social media for violence and looting and that police would be "absolutely uncompromising".1France 24 (AFP)3Euronews

Paris marches were limited to a route between Bastille and Nation, and protesters in Orléans, where Marine Le Pen's National Rally opens its congress, were barred from the city centre; the prefect expected 20,000 to 30,000 counter-demonstrators. France 24 reported that Lyon and Marseille banned demonstrations, with one union march allowed in Marseille on an "exceptional basis". The Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Picasso Museum and Grand Palais were to close, and Art Basel cut its weekend programme. Amnesty International called the measures "a slide toward authoritarian practice".1France 24 (AFP)2France 243Euronews

President Emmanuel Macron met high-school student representatives at the Élysée for the first time since the protests began; student groups said he promised to overhaul the Parcoursup admissions system but called for "continued mobilisation". Macron called for "the utmost severity" against delinquency, accused "ultra-left" groups of trying to bring down the republic and postponed a visit to Nigeria and Senegal.1France 24 (AFP)2France 24

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said courts had sent 217 people to prison over the 17 October violence, half of them first-time offenders, and Nuñez said nearly 500 people had been identified and arrested. Private-sector unions called a strike for 5 November. Turnout, clashes and arrests on 24 October had not been reported in the sources at the time of writing.1France 24 (AFP)2France 24

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6 linked stories, oldest first. This story is highlighted.

  1. Half a million join youth-led cost-of-living protests across FranceStudents, unions and yellow-vest groups marched over living costs and fuel prices; dozens were detained in Paris.
  2. Limoges town hall set on fire during riotsThe 19th-century building was "largely lost" to fire; a suspect on a security watchlist was later held.
  3. Protesters break into Marseille town hallProtesters rammed the door with security barriers before police intervened.
  4. Curfews imposed in Paris, Lyon and other citiesParts of Paris and Lyon went under overnight curfew; more than 2,500 people were in custody.
  5. France to deploy troops to support police before 24 October protestsSoldiers will free up police for crowd control as a new day of protest is called.
  6. France puts 70,000 police on the streets and restricts marches before Saturday protestsInterior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced about 70,000 police and gendarmes for the 24 October protests as cities restricted or banned marches and Macron met student representatives.
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    1. 1
      France to deploy 70,000 police ahead of new protestsFrance 24 (AFP) 23 October 2026france24.com
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