By TOM NOUVIAN
PARIS (AP) — 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.
Read more Driver charged with intentionally injuring Australian federal lawmaker
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 p.m. on Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday, and a police helicopter circled over Place de la République 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 center 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.
Policemen patrol during an overnight curfew in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Tagging reading “The golden youth” on the statue of Equality at the Republique square, after a quiet night Monday under curfew, the first since weekend protests over the cost of living turned into rioting and looting across France, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
People watch a burned-out car after a quiet night Monday under curfew, the first since weekend protests over the cost of living turned into rioting and looting across France, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
People ride past burned-out bikes after a quiet night Monday under curfew, the first since weekend protests over the cost of living turned into rioting and looting across France, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Workers then used pressure washers to blast graffiti off the monument.
“The targeted curfews helped keep last night calm,” Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu wrote on X on Tuesday, adding that new curfews would be imposed that night “wherever the situation requires,” decided locally by prefects, the state’s representatives in each region, together with mayors.
Read more China defends DeepSeek after US ban of its AI from government systems
Speaking in Lille, northern France, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said 149 people had been jailed nationwide as of Tuesday at noon. According to the Justice Ministry, of the roughly 2,500 people arrested since Saturday, more than 800 have been sent before prosecutors, most of whom were either put on trial immediately or ordered to appear at a later hearing.
In Paris alone, about 300 people have been sent before prosecutors following the Oct. 17 protests, the city prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Darmanin said he asked prosecutors to appeal any sentence they considered too lenient. “People with no criminal record ending up in prison for property crimes is extremely rare, if not unheard of,” he said, arguing that the French justice system will be “extremely firm.”
In Lille, he said, three men aged 20 to 25 with no criminal record were each sentenced to 10 months in prison and imprisoned immediately for looting a video game store in the city’s old town.
The National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, is launching an inquiry into the Oct. 17 violence and the authorities’ policing strategy, its speaker, Yaël Braun-Pivet, said, with findings expected “by the end of the year.”
Read more Placentia City Council candidates promise to address budget concerns, roads
Sylvie Corbet, in Paris, contributed to this report.