Looters and rioters struck Paris for a second straight day on Sunday, and the looting went on into the night even after President Emmanuel Macron promised in a televised address that "those who looted will have to pay back for the damage." Paris police said they had made 108 arrests on Sunday, 66 of them in the evening, Le Figaro reported.
The trouble started at about 2 p.m. at Place de la République, after an undeclared call to gather spread on social media. Several hundred people fought police there for hours, an AFP journalist reported. Officers answered thrown objects with tear gas and stun grenades, the CRS 8 riot unit was sent in, and a water cannon was used shortly after 6 p.m. Groups set barricades on fire on Rue du Faubourg du Temple, and firefighters put out burning Vélib' bikes.
As night fell, the looting spread. Looters smashed an entrance of the BHV Marais department store and went inside, AFP reported. Police said at least five shops were looted, including a Darty electronics store in Belleville and two supermarkets. Officers fired tear gas and stun grenades near Châtelet-Les Halles, where police reported "hostile groups" and sealed off the Forum des Halles. The prefecture described those arrested earlier in the day as "mostly young people from the suburbs looking for opportunities to loot."
Groups also tried to break into shops in Lyon and Marseille, but police stepped in, and Marseille's prefecture said no shops were looted there. Saturday's violence led to 2,397 arrests across France, according to the Interior Ministry.
Photo: Still from AFP video, Place de la République area, Paris, Oct. 18, 2026 (AFP via X)
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