Author: TOM NOUVIAN
Paris returned to calm on Tuesday after its first quiet night since a weekend marred by France’s worst rioting in years, as authorities imposed curfews in several cities in an effort to prevent another round of rioting and looting.
At least 2,400 people were arrested after rioters in cities across France on Saturday clashed with police, set cars on fire, stormed public buildings and engulfed a historic city hall in flames, during nationwide protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools.
On Sunday evening, small groups set fire to trash bins, bicycles and other objects in the streets and looted businesses in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities.
In the capital, a curfew ran from 11 pm on Monday to 6 am Tuesday, and a police helicopter circled over Place de la Republique overnight, a central point in the weekend clashes, sweeping the square with a searchlight to check that the order was being respected.
Early Tuesday morning, workers used a crane to remove a giant fluorescent yellow vest draped over the statue at the centre of the square, a reference to the “yellow vest” protests over fuel prices that began in 2018 and shook the first term of President Emmanuel Macron.
Workers then used pressure washers to blast graffiti off the monument.