Urban violence: “The authorities underestimated the risk”

The fire at the Limoges town hall, the looting and the clashes with the police marked the mobilization of October 17, 2026. How can we explain this violence?

First of all, it is a fiasco in maintaining order. For weeks, the government has chosen to show its muscles in the face of the high school movement, with 8,000 arrests. This is a strategy never seen before. It has exasperated some of the youth and fueled their radicalization.

The LBD and grenade fire, far from easing tensions, fueled anger. The mutilations and mass arrests of high school students have worsened distrust of the police. We had already observed this pattern during the yellow vest movement.

Why were the police overwhelmed?

The authorities poorly assessed the situation and insufficiently prepared the routes with the unions. However, there were signs of the mobilization of ultra-left groups, including massive purchases of balaclavas. The Minister of the Interior had himself warned of the risk of violence, preferring to blame La France insoumise (LFI) rather than translating these warnings into an effective system.

In the aftermath of these nights of unrest, Laurent Nunez rightly calls on LFI to dissociate itself from the thugs. Is there an ambiguity in Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party which could have fueled the riots?

I don’t believe that LFI is capable of controlling such anger. Certainly, it is a far-left party, but it participates in the democratic game and rejects political violence. It should not be confused with ultra-left groups, which regularly take advantage of demonstrations to try to impose their ideas by force. These activists were ready to fight. They did not need LFI or any other party to take action.

And the looting that accompanied the clashes?

We must distinguish the groups. Ultra-left activists particularly attack symbols of capitalism, such as banks. The looters are pursuing another objective: taking advantage of the disorder to carry out a raid. The failure of the authorities is to have created the conditions in which these groups were able to act simultaneously, by allowing the situation to deteriorate…