France's Interior Ministry will mobilize 70,000 police and gendarmes on Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, 2026 to cover protests called in several cities, according to the announcement by Minister Laurent Nuñez on Friday the 23rd. The operation includes riot squads, elite units and officers in training as support.
The measure responds to the riots of Saturday, October 17, when more than half a million people gathered across France and part of the marches descended into looting and arson, according to Al Jazeera. The deployment is 20% larger than the previous weekend's: Paris extended its nighttime curfew until Monday the 26th, and Marseille and Lyon banned gatherings, imposed curfews and restricted public transport for Saturday. The government maintains that the restrictions aim to prevent a repeat of those events, while unions, student organizations and lawyers have challenged several bans in court. For Mexico and Latin America, the case serves as a reference point in comparative politics: it documents how a European government combines police deployment, legally disputed restrictions and closures of public spaces during a protest cycle.
The tally from last week includes 2,700 arrests since Saturday the 17th and 232 people sentenced to prison, according to the Ministry of Justice cited by The Guardian. Minister Nuñez confirmed the activation of the GIGN and the RAID, units specialized in counterterrorism and hostage rescue, and said part of the deployment will be stationed in front of government buildings. Several museums will close on Saturday, including the Louvre and the Orsay; the Art Basel Paris fair moved its closing forward to Friday the 23rd, two days earlier than planned. UNEF maintains its call to march and the Yellow Vests movement presented plans for a march through central Paris.
Saturday the 24th puts the apparatus to the test: courts are reviewing several bans this Friday and the Élysée anticipated that Emmanuel Macron will announce additional decisions after the defense council. The number of arrests over the weekend will measure the reach of the model.
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.