On Oct. 18, Limoges Mayor Guillaume Guérin stood before the ruins of his city’s 143-year-old town hall and described something more troubling than a riot. He told Le Monde that 500 to 600 ultra-left militants had infiltrated a demonstration of 5,000 people. They brought mortars and a 200-kilogram battering ram, knew where to enter, and exploited police shortages. The attack, he argued, was planned; the larger demonstration provided the opportunity.
Across France, some 550,000 people marched that weekend, most peacefully protesting the cost of living, pensions, and deteriorating public services. But black-bloc militants, looters, and young men from troubled suburbs exploited the crowds. The result was not a single organized movement but groups with conflicting objectives whose actions reinforced one another.
