France Holds Mass Protests Under 70,000-Strong Security Deployment

Overview

• Organisers of a nationwide mobilization accepted a prefecture‑imposed Paris route from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes after the administrative court rejected their emergency appeal on Saturday morning.
• The government deployed about 70,000 police and gendarmes plus elite units, Sentinelle troops, helicopters and armoured vehicles to police demonstrations across the country.
• Prefectural bans and curfews were imposed in multiple cities but administrative courts partially suspended restrictions in places including Limoges and parts of Bouches‑du‑Rhône, restoring some local rights to demonstrate.
• Authorities reported large material damage and many arrests from the 17 October unrest, and the Paris prosecutor has opened an IGPN inquiry after a photographer was seriously injured by a police grenade that day.
• Orléans hosted the Rassemblement National congress with a large counter‑demonstration and widespread closures and curfews, forcing shops, residents and schools to take extra precautions and disrupting daily life.