France Is Gearing Up for Another Massive Wave of Riots

France is bracing for more protests and riots this weekend.

Over the course of the last week, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets across France. What began as demonstrations over deteriorating conditions in public schools quickly expanded into protests over the cost of living. Many descended into riots, with opportunists looting stores, setting fire to historic buildings, and clashing with law enforcement. 

Round two is expected to begin Saturday, with the Yellow Vests, the National Union of Students of France, the New Anticapitalist Party, teachers’ unions, high school and university students, and labor and trade unions planning to return to the streets over the cost of living, affordability, and related issues. 

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that his administration will convene an emergency security meeting ahead of the weekend in an effort to prevent a repeat of the past week’s chaos.

Amidst another work up to a weekend of protests, following protest that turned to violent rioting and looting across France, French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he will convene an emergency security meeting in anticipation of this weekend’s protests. French police have vowed to respond preemptively in force this time with a more robust response expected should protests turn violent.

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 22, 2026

As part of that plan, Macron said France will bar protests not organized by labor unions, though it remains unclear how many of this weekend’s planned demonstrations would be affected. 

Authorities have also authorized the preemptive use of force against unruly protesters and rioters in an effort to maintain order.

BREAKING: 'Seditious ultra-left groups were behind riots', says French President Macron. He announced that France will bar protests not organised by unions in the coming days. https://t.co/sq5ue0Wipx 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube https://t.co/vnDKzg0Jau

— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 22, 2026

To reinforce those measures, France is expected to mobilize its military and specialized police units. Troops would guard stations, airports, and religious sites without directly participating in riot control, leaving police responsible for dispersing unauthorized gatherings and unruly crowds.

🇫🇷 France mobilizes special forces, armored vehicles, and soldiers for the upcoming wave of riots France is mobilizing elite police and gendarmerie units, Centaure armored vehicles, helicopters, water cannons, and military personnel for the nationwide riots planned for Saturday, 24 October. After the riots and looting on 17 October, authorities are deploying Sentinelle anti-terror soldiers to guard stations, airports, and religious sites so police and gendarmerie can focus on the streets. The soldiers will not disperse demonstrators themselves. Macron said that "illegitimate" protests would be banned and blamed ultra-left groups and vandals for ‌riots and looting. Latest riot updates and videos on our Telegram channel: https://t.co/cdipvCqQql

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 22, 2026

Macron said Thursday that “seditious ultra-left groups” were behind the past week’s unrest and that France’s justice system has been mobilized to respond. Out of the hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating across the country, several thousand have been taken into custody and several hundred already incarcerated.

Investigations and legal proceedings in France remain ongoing, according to President Emmanuel Macron, who added that the justice system is fully mobilized. "Several thousand individuals have been taken into custody, and several hundred have been incarcerated," Macron stated. Further details on those detained and their cases will be released in due course. https://t.co/fn0GYsF9zs

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 22, 2026

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