France counts cost of protests: 1,200 arrests, vandalized cities

France is assessing the damage Sunday after a day of protests against the high cost of living descended into widespread violence, looting, and chaos, just six months before the presidential election. Authorities reported 1,200 arrests and 150 police and gendarmes injured on Saturday. Protesters vandalized town halls and prefectures in several cities, including Marseille, Lille, and Bordeaux, while the 19th-century Hôtel de Ville in Limoges was largely destroyed by fire, and entire streets in Paris were left in ruins. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called the unrest unprecedented and urged La France insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon to choose a side, while President Emmanuel Macron vowed that perpetrators would be prosecuted. The violence, which some observers say surpassed the 2023 riots and the gilets jaunes protests, is intensifying political clashes between Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen ahead of the election.