France prepares for third Saturday of protests coinciding with Halloween

Third Saturday of protests under threat of renewed unrest

France is preparing on Saturday for a third week of protests coinciding with Halloween: shops are boarding up their windows while authorities try to prevent a repeat of the street violence that swept the country on October 17. This is reported by AFP.

Large-scale security measures

About 70,000 security personnel will be deployed on Saturday — the same number as a week ago. In Paris, more than 40 metro stations will be closed, and tram services will also be disrupted. A nighttime curfew will be in effect from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am on Saturday and Sunday in the République and Châtelet–Les Halles districts, while city hall is mobilizing more than a thousand municipal workers to clean public spaces. An aide to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez expects street violence on a scale 'comparable' to the riots of two weeks ago, when footage of clashes, looted shops and burning public buildings spread around the world. A police source noted the authorities' 'considerable nervousness': 'There is no reason to think everything will go smoothly.'

Masks, bans and the courts

The interior minister warned on Thursday of a 'very high risk of public disorder,' saying that demonstrations would be allowed, but not in city centers. The Paris police prefecture tried to ban a march from Bastille to Nation in the east of the city, but a court overturned the ban. Nuñez said authorities had found calls on social media to gather on Halloween evening and 'ignite a revolution'; some posts suggested gathering for a 'night of darkness' in costumes. The minister warned that protesters would not be allowed to wear face coverings. Alain Di Crescenzo, president of the French chamber of commerce, told the radio station France Inter that business owners are worried: 'Shopkeepers can't wait for Saturday to be over,' adding that Halloween complicates the situation because of people in masks. Didier Jarsalé, manager of a Paris costume shop crowded with customers on Friday, said it was not his job 'to ask every customer what they intend to do with their purchase': 'We are not here to play the role of the police.'

From the cost of living to civil liberties

The protest movement brings together 'yellow vest' activists, trade unions, schoolchildren and students. It began with demands to address rising living costs, inequality and deteriorating learning conditions, but after the violent crackdown and serious injuries to some protesters, it broadened its demands to include the defense of civil liberties and the right to protest. The authorities acknowledged failures in security and intelligence that contributed to the clashes, looting and vandalism of October 17, and since then have restricted demonstrations and imposed curfews in a number of cities. The unrest was preceded by weeks of schoolchildren's actions for better learning conditions. Against the backdrop of the protests, the country was shaken by a shooting near Paris in which one person was killed and seven wounded, including an 11-year-old girl; most of the victims were of foreign origin. The attack prompted rallies against the normalization of racial hatred. The political backdrop is growing sharper: six months remain until the presidential election, and far-right leader Marine Le Pen leads the polls. President Emmanuel Macron said this week that it is 'not normal' for France to be in such 'disarray' so close to the election.