French intelligence services warned the government weeks before Saturday’s nationwide riots that the far left was driving the student protest movement, according to French media reports, raising pressure on President Emmanuel Macron’s government over why the violence was not prevented.
An intelligence note dated September 29, first reported by Le Figaro, named the hard-left party La France Insoumise as the force behind the unrest. At a government crisis meeting on October 1, intelligence officials described the protests as “an operation organized by LFI and its proxies on the far left,” according to a readout reported by several outlets. LFI rejected the accusation, saying it has always called for non-violent protest.
The warnings have come under scrutiny since Saturday, when a day of protest against the rising cost of living ended in looting, arson and clashes with police in Paris, Lyon, Limoges and other cities. More than 2,000 people were arrested and more than 600 members of the security forces were injured.
On Monday, Macron rejected an offer to resign from Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, instead ordering him to end the barricades and looting and to “ensure transparency regarding the failures in foresight and intelligence that led to the violence,” the Élysée said. Nuñez acknowledged “a lack of foresight” in coordinating the response.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin went further, telling France 2 that French intelligence is highly effective against Islamist terrorism and foreign interference but “does not know how to properly combat the far left.” He warned that “far-left seditionists” seeking to destabilize state institutions would be one of the country’s main threats in the coming years.
Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu have blamed the violence on ultra-left groups joined by criminals. Some right-wing politicians and commentators have also pointed to an alliance between the far left and Islamist movements, but French intelligence officials have previously told lawmakers they see little evidence of such ties.
