French far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon placed himself at the front of Saturday’s protest in Paris, despite accusations that he and his far-left France Insoumise (France in Rebellion/LFI) party have manipulated the student protests to incite violent riots and unrest.
Update 1810: Clashes between rioters and police have started to break out in Paris, including on the Rue des Meuniers, where police came under fire from protesters hurling stones and chanting “ACAB” (All Cops Are Bastards). The police in turn fired tear gas into the mob in an attempt to disperse the violent crowd, which had also begun setting fires and damaging street advertisements, Le Figaro reported.
The original story continues as follows…
The Paris Police prefecture estimated that between 100,000 and 150,000 demonstrators would take part in the march from Porte de Bagnolet and Porte de Charenton in the French capital on Saturday.
At the helm of the protest was LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the 75-year-old radical socialist who has ridden the wave of the past month of rioting in France to leapfrog into second place in the race to replace President Emmanuel Macron next spring, trailing only anti-mass-migration stalwart Marine Le Pen.
According to French paper of record Le Figaro, the far-left leader was hailed by the Parisian mob, who chanted: “Mélenchon, president!”
Mélenchon has been personally cited, alongside other members of his Islamo-leftist party, by the government as having stoked what started as small-scale student-teacher demonstrations at high schools into a nationwide revolt that has resulted in billions in damages.
The LFI has faced accusations of trying to derail the stability of the presidential election and of staging a show of force to blackmail the country if it votes for Le Pen, who holds a commanding and growing lead in the polls.
PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 31: Demonstrators carrying banners, flags and various costumes, take part in a protest by the Gilets jaunes (Yellow Vests) movement on at Porte de Bagnolet amid renewed nationwide mobilization in Paris, France on October 31, 2026. (Photo by Ibrahim Ezzat/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Despite the past month of violence associated with the youth protests, Mélenchon claimed on Saturday to be an advocate of peace, while attempting to cast the so-called “far-right” as the violent faction in France, citing the shooting in the multicultural suburb of Trappes earlier this month, which debunked reports sought to link to Le Pen’s National Rally.
“I will go to Porte de Bagnolet, responding to the call of the high school students’ unions, students, salaried workers’ union confederations, and the Yellow Vests. With the Insoumis, we will support the demands for decent study conditions and against the high cost of living,” he said.
“But we want to uphold the right to demonstrate peacefully at a time when the Macron camp is veering into authoritarian mode and the far right seeks to place the country under its threats of attacks, as in Trappes. In this way, we will demonstrate our firm, calm, and disciplined determination to see the fundamental rights of a free people upheld.”
However, while the morning’s procession was largely peaceful, authorities have expressed concern of the potential for an “insurrectional situation” in which hardened “ultra-left” radicals — of whom between 300 and 600 are expected to be present in Paris on Saturday — join forces with multicultural youths from ethnic minority enclaves in the suburbs surrounding major cities.
Last week, a report produced by the French intelligence services said that the street alliance between radical groups like Antifa and young men “who came in large numbers from the neighbourhoods out of opportunism”.
The report said that there are around 5,000 trained Antifa provocateurs in the country, who are typically at the forefront of sparking violence at demonstrations by attacking police or government buildings, while youths from the multicultural suburbs were the predominant force behind the looting of businesses.
A protester, dressed as the supervillain The Joker appearing in the American comic books published by DC Comics, takes part in a protest march during nationwide demonstrations over the rising cost of living and inequality organised by Yellow Vest movement, labour unions and high school and university students, in Paris on October 31, 2026. (Photo by Sameer AL-DOUMY / AFP via Getty Images)
After devastating looting on October 17th, when French businesses and governments suffered over $1.3 billion in damages, shopkeepers in Paris were seen preemptively boarding up their storefronts on Saturday. Additionally, authorities deployed some 70,000 police officers and gendarmes ahead of the demonstrations.
Cities across the country are also bracing for potential unrest, such as in Nantes, where local authorities said that Saturday represents a “high-risk day, with the convergence of thugs and looters, who will be able to join the demonstrators, using the pretext of Halloween.” Meanwhile, in Marseille, police uncovered a cache of Halloween masks and knives in apparent preparation for mayhem in the evening.
Demonstrations are also being held in other European countries, where leftists have sought to emulate the French revolt, including in Germany, Italy, and Spain.
