French police arrested dozens of people across the Paris region, Lyon and other cities on Saturday night after scattered clashes broke out on Halloween. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had ordered 70,000 officers and gendarmes onto the streets to contain the trouble.
The deployment, announced by Nuñez on Thursday, was one of the largest ever mobilised for Halloween. Nuñez said the calls circulating on social media came from the ultra-left, trade unions and some Yellow Vest groups, and were for demonstrations on Saturday evening, some using 'revolution' language. The Yellow Vest movement and student unions had called a nationwide protest day for 31 October, following the 17 October riots. Similar online appeals led to sporadic violence and vehicle arson in several French cities on Halloween last year.
The Paris police prefecture said officers faced fireworks fired at patrols in parts of Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-d'Oise. Several cars and bins were set alight. Local authorities in Lyon and Marseille reported smaller incidents, including attacks on public transport, and some bus routes were suspended early as a precaution.
The Interior Ministry said the heavy presence had kept the disturbances contained and that the full national toll of arrests and burned vehicles would be published on Sunday morning. Police unions, including Alliance Police Nationale, warned that officers were stretched after weeks of demanding public order duties. Several mayors of suburban towns called for long-term investment rather than repeated emergency deployments.
The night was seen as a test of the government's tougher security stance before the New Year's Eve period, when France traditionally records its highest number of vehicle burnings. Nuñez has said that minors involved in violence will face prosecution alongside adults, and that parents may be held accountable.
"Those who think they can attack the forces of order under cover of a festival will find the state in front of them," Nuñez said in a statement released by the Interior Ministry.