The French police began evacuating the famous Place de la Concorde in central Paris on Friday evening from protesters after demonstrations and riots erupted, stemming from unrest across the country following the police shooting of a young man. The police stated in a report, "The evacuation operation is underway at Place de la Concorde," and all public transport was suspended.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced the reinforcement of security forces nationwide, mobilizing 45,000 police and gendarmerie personnel in anticipation of a fourth night of riots. In response to a question during the main news program aired by TF1 regarding whether the government could declare a state of emergency, Darmanin said, "Simply put, we do not rule out any option, and we will see after tonight what the President of the Republic will choose."
In an effort to contain the riots and vandalism, the French government allowed the gendarmerie to deploy armored vehicles onto the streets, though it stopped short of declaring a state of emergency.
Meanwhile, confrontations and riots continued in other cities, particularly Marseille, where the police reported on Friday that French rioters had looted a weapons store in the city's center, the second-largest city in France, seizing some hunting rifles but without ammunition. The police added that they arrested one person with a rifle that may have been stolen from the weapon store. The police are currently guarding the shop. The total number of arrests reached approximately 87 individuals.
As a result of the incident, the mayor of the city appealed to the French government to send additional security forces.
President Emmanuel Macron requested social media platforms to remove the "most sensitive" footage of the riots from their pages and to inform authorities of the identities of users inciting violence. For this purpose, Darmanin met with representatives from Meta, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok. Snapchat stated that it does not tolerate content that incites violence.
