Protests in France: Special forces arrest suspects after city hall fire

The town hall of the French city of Limogenes burned over the weekend

After the fire in the town hall of the central French city of Limoges during the nationwide riots at the weekend, special forces have arrested a suspected arsonist. According to the news agency AFP, an anti-terrorist unit took over the investigation. As the newspaper “Le Parisien” and the station CNews report, the 40-Year-old was registered for violence against officials as a danger and is classified as left-wing radical.

On Saturday, rioters on the sidelines of protests against high cost of living set the town hall of Limoges on fire. The historic part of the 19th century building burned down completely, the bell tower collapsed into flames. The burning town hall became a symbol of violence nationwide and internationally, some of which targeted state institutions.

The conservative mayor of Limoges, Guillaume Guérin, accused the state of failure. The police had “not enough resources” and had backed away from the rioters, he criticized. He demanded that the state rebuild the town hall.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu pledged state support for reconstruction and announced a visit to Limoges on Friday. Other mayors, including those from Paris, Marseille and Lyon, had also denounced the lack of emergency forces and their lack of preparation after the unrest.

On the sidelines of nationwide demonstrations against the high cost of living, in which hundreds of thousands of people had participated mostly peacefully on Saturday, there were also serious riots and violence in other cities. The government attributes these mainly to left-wing extremists.

Recently, several French cities have imposed curfews, which have calmed the situation, according to Prime Minister Lecornu. “Tonight, new curfews will be decided where the situation requires,” he announced. These decisions would be taken locally by the prefects in coordination with the mayors.