Burning town halls, looted shops, cars engulfed in flames and street clashes have shocked France, where calls are mounting for the interior minister to resign in the wake of unprecedented destruction. More than 2,000 people have been taken into custody during the riots.
The French government held an emergency crisis meeting on Sunday after one of the most serious waves of rioting in recent years swept across the country. Public buildings were set ablaze, while hundreds of shops were vandalised and looted.
Politicians from both the left and the right are calling for Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez to resign, after the government was apparently caught off guard by the scale of the violence. Rioters stormed and set fire to government buildings, smashed bus shelters, blocked roads, and broke into shops, looting and vandalising them.
In the central French city of Limoges, a 19th-century town hall was set on fire. According to Mayor Guillaume Guérin, those who stormed the building were not protesters standing up for a cause, but rather “people organised for war.” He said that those who attacked and torched the town hall threatened to kill one of the building’s caretakers and told elected officials that they would “burn.”
The French government is therefore facing mounting pressure as the country’s political leadership grapples not only with the consequences of the riots but also with serious criticism of the effectiveness of its law enforcement response.
