French President Emmanuel Macron rejected Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s resignation on Monday following a weekend of violent protests across France that left thousands detained, hundreds of businesses damaged and nearly 1,000 security personnel injured.
The Élysée Palace said Macron had retained Nuñez to preserve continuity in the command of police and security forces while demanding urgent operational changes and greater accountability for failures that intensified the unrest.
More than 500,000 people participated in demonstrations on Saturday, October 17, as weeks of student-led protests over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and education funding expanded to include grievances over rising living costs and deteriorating public services.
Demonstrations descended into widespread violence in several major cities, with masked rioters looting businesses, setting fires and attacking town halls, police stations and other government buildings.
Authorities deployed approximately 60,000 law enforcement personnel nationwide, but Nuñez acknowledged that insufficient preparation and deployment had allowed security forces to lose control in some locations.
More than 2,300 people were arrested on Saturday, while nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes sustained injuries.
Protesters were also injured, including one demonstrator who lost a hand after being struck by a police crowd-control grenade.
Looting continued into Sunday, with approximately 30 businesses targeted in Paris.
Authorities arrested around 350 people in the capital on Sunday and overnight.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said more than 2,330 people were taken into police custody nationwide over the weekend, approximately 70 percent of them adults.
Another report placed the overall arrest figure at at least 2,400.
Macron instructed Nuñez to introduce new security operations targeting violent rioters and ensure transparency regarding intelligence and planning failures.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was scheduled to chair an interministerial crisis meeting on Monday.
Meanwhile, Macron continued his Gulf diplomatic tour, including visits to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar, seeking oil and diesel supplies to help reduce fuel prices.