6,877 Arrests, €30 Million in Damage: France's School Riots Are Urban Violence
October 11, 2026 · Frisian News
France's Ministry of Justice has recorded 6,877 arrests since student riots began in mid-September, with 86 per cent of those arrested under 18. The Élysée Palace puts the cumulative damage bill at a minimum of €30 million.
The Élysée Palace has estimated the cost of France's student riots at 'at least 30 million euros' ($33 million) since demonstrations began in mid-September, and France's Ministry of Justice has recorded 6,877 arrests over the same period.
Eighty-six per cent of those arrested are under 18, the Ministry of Justice reported. Of the 2,376 people now facing charges, 65 per cent have already appeared before a judge. Le Figaro reported that courts have remanded 21 people in custody, including six minors.
The cost is not abstract. On Thursday, local prosecutors said 30 to 40 people broke into a school outside Bordeaux during a protest, smashed or stole roughly a dozen computers worth around €3,000 each and set fires inside the building. The school estimated its losses at between €100,000 and €200,000 for that single incident. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said on Friday that more than 100 school staff have been injured nationwide since mid-September.
France's Ministry of Interior reported this week that public street violence hit record levels in September, with some 20,000 violent incidents recorded that month alone, or 700 per day. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 715 officers have been injured. CNBC reported that a 15-year-old in the northern city of Lens lost a hand in clashes with riot police. Paris prosecutors said a separate 15-year-old will face juvenile court on February 23 for allegedly attacking a female police officer, an incident in which bystanders were heard shouting 'Wallah, kill her,' according to Breitbart.
The protests have drawn large crowds. The Interior Ministry estimated that 266,000 people took part in nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday, including 56,000 in Paris. The Education Ministry reported that classes were totally or partially suspended at 891 schools that day. Earlier in the week, the Interior Ministry said 1,027 of France's roughly 3,700 lycées had been affected, including 222 that were blockaded.
The official framing shifted as the damage accumulated. Education Minister Geffray had described the movement as 'legitimate at the outset.' The Interior Ministry later declared it 'no longer has anything to do with the legitimate expression of high-school students' demands,' labelling it 'urban violence,' according to Le Monde as reported by CNBC. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu denounced 'ultra violence' threatening schools in parliamentary questioning on Tuesday.
Paris police accused the far-left La France Insoumise party of helping organise and spread the protests nationally. The Prime Minister's Office told Reuters that intelligence services viewed the movement as 'a maneuver organized by LFI and its ultra-left proxies.' LFI Mayor of Saint-Denis Bally Bagayoko was cited by police for defending the hypothetical use of violence against law enforcement. The rioting lands at a painful moment for the public finances. Finance Minister Roland Lescure told reporters the 2027 budget targets a fiscal adjustment of 54 billion euros ($60.8 billion), with teacher wage freezes among the planned cuts. France's deficit stood at 5.1 per cent of GDP last year, while its debt-to-GDP ratio reached 119 per cent, according to CNBC.
Breitbart reported similar protests spreading to Belgium and Italy on Friday. A student at Paris 8 University told France24 that demonstrators would continue 'until October, November, December if necessary.' The French government says it expects the riots to slow.
Published October 11, 2026 · Frisian News