Paris/The French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, acknowledged this Monday that the security forces lost control in some large cities during the riots on Saturday and admitted failures of foresight in police deployment, while the Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin, acknowledged the failure of the management of that day of protests.
“Yes, on Saturday we lost control in some big cities,” Nuñez told France Inter radio station, where he acknowledged that the situation had been extremely difficult to manage and that it should not be repeated.
The Minister of the Interior admitted that the police forces deployed were insufficient given the magnitude of the looting and violent acts recorded outside the demonstrations. President Emmanuel Macron rejected his resignation on Sunday and asked him to introduce new methods of action against violent groups, the Elysée reported this Monday.
“We have failed, without a doubt,” Darmanin said shortly afterwards on France 2, after expressing his support for Nuñez.
The Minister of Justice attributed part of the problems to deficiencies in the intelligence services and warned that far-left extremism constitutes a threat to France, along with organized crime and terrorism.
“It is evident that our intelligence services do not know how to combat the extreme left,” lamented the head of Justice.
“What the President of the Republic and the Minister of the Interior said (during a meeting the day before at the Elysée) was that there was a failure in intelligence. You cannot have good police work without good intelligence,” Darmanin stressed.
“It is evident that our intelligence services do not know how to combat the extreme left,” lamented the head of Justice.
And he added: “In the coming years, one of the threats that will affect our country, along with organized crime and terrorism, is far-left extremism.”
Nuñez, for his part, defended the actions of the security forces and highlighted the nearly 2,400 arrests made in the country. He also demanded a firm judicial response and asked that the recognition of the authorities’ errors not overshadow the responsibility of those who participated in the looting and attacks.
The minister again accused The Rebellious France (LFI) for not condemning violent acts with sufficient force.
Darmanin stated that, as of 8:00 this Monday, there were 2,331 people in police custody in France due to riots and looting over the weekend. He added that 70% are of legal age, “well known to the Police”, and that in more than 80% of the cases the Prosecutor’s Office requests preventive detention, which, in his opinion, reflects the firmness of the judicial response.
For her part, the Paris prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, assured on TF1 that the Prosecutor’s Office will not “give up in its efforts” to find the people who have committed acts of violence and looting in the capital since Saturday and asked the affected merchants to preserve possible evidence, such as abandoned objects or traces of blood.
The Paris Police Prefecture has created a special investigation group to examine the complaints and review available images, including recordings from business security cameras, video surveillance systems and social networks.
The authorities have also asked witnesses to hand over their videos to the Police. Saturday’s unrest included looting of businesses, attacks on public buildings and clashes with security forces in Paris and other French cities.
“Given the need to maintain command of the law enforcement forces in the current context, the President of the Republic rejected” Nuñez’s resignation
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron rejected the resignation of Laurent Nuñez and asked him to deploy new methods of intervention against violent groups as soon as possible, the Elysée reported this Monday.
The French Presidency justified the decision by the need to guarantee the continuity of command of the security forces in the current context of tension. “Given the need to maintain command of the law enforcement forces in the current context, the President of the Republic rejected” Nuñez’s resignation, the Elysée indicated.
In an interview on France Inter, Nuñez explained that he had submitted his resignation to Macron “because – he said – – I am responsible for everything that is happening.”
Macron once again demanded transparency about the failures of foresight and intelligence that, according to the French Presidency, contributed to the riots, destruction and looting of hundreds of businesses.
The minister had submitted his resignation after criticism of the police management of the protests on October 17, which led to acts of vandalism and clashes in different French cities.
Macron asked Nuñez to apply “new methods of action on the ground as soon as possible” against those responsible for the riots
The count by the authorities amounts to some 2,400 arrests and nearly a thousand members of the security forces injured. The police action has also received criticism from several mayors, including those of Paris, Marseille and Limoges, whose Mayor’s Office was engulfed in flames.
Given the magnitude of the damage, Macron asked Nuñez to apply “new methods of action on the ground as soon as possible” against those responsible for the riots, the Elysée said.
The Minister of the Interior acknowledged today that the police deployment he implemented was, “in some aspects, asymmetrical in relation to the volume of participants,” since the participation was “clearly greater than we had anticipated,” he explained. Their forecasts estimated 200,000 protesters for Saturday, while the final figure was 500,000.
The minister specified that sixty thousand people were mobilized on Saturday, including “all mobile forces, gendarmes and police officers.” “The question now is how to ensure that this does not happen again,” he stressed.
In a solemn statement televised on Sunday night, the president warned that those who tried to attack republican institutions would have to answer for their actions before justice and pointed out that ultra-left groups and criminals were responsible for the violence and looting.
