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France answers cost-of-living riots with curfews and facial recognition. Who pays for 3,000 damaged businesses is still open
On 19 October 2026 French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu asked prefects to impose "partial and localised" curfews, 11 pm to 6 am in parts of Paris, and did not rule out a state of emergency. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin announced 2,513 people taken into custody and 67 jailed, told prosecutors to charge rioters under organised-crime provisions, and said images posted on social media would be compared with a police file that, in his words, holds "millions of people". The government counts at least 3,000 businesses damaged or looted. Lecornu promised short-time work support from 20 October and a dedicated support fund with no amount attached. Next protest dates: 24 October 2026 and a union call to mobilise on 5 November 2026.
France's justice minister has promised to compare riot images posted on social media with a police file that, in his own words, holds "millions of people". At the same time the government counts at least 3,000 businesses damaged or looted, and AFP puts the damage at hundreds of millions of euros.
On 18 October we wrote about the day of protest and rioting itself, 17 October: about half a million people in the streets and nearly 1,800 arrests in the first hours. Three things have changed since. First, custody numbers rose to 2,513, and AP puts injured police officers and gendarmes at about 1,000 (TNND with AP, 2026-10-19). Second, on 19 October 2026 the government moved to measures President Emmanuel Macron had not announced in his address on 18 October: curfews, organised-crime charges, facial recognition. Third, the first bill has arrived, along with the question of who pays it.