The people anticipate anarchy.
Last weekend’s horrifying riots — only the most violent expression of the unrest that has plagued France for over a month — seem to have chastened the country’s notoriously permissive political class.
French President Emmanuel Macron blamed the catastrophe that unfolded on October 17 and 18, in which 3,000 stores were looted and over a thousand police officers were wounded amid the arrest of 2,700 rioters, on “seditious” elements within the French “ultra-left.” He implemented localized curfews while the Interior Ministry promised 20 percent more police as well as a military presence on the ground across the country this weekend. Authorities promised to be “uncompromising” toward “all those who will commit atrocities,” but local French officials have not inspired confidence.
Despite a general ban on large gatherings in cities like Lyon, Nice, Le Havre, and Marseille, union organizations have been granted permits to hold marches — the same unions that have displayed a conspicuous toleration for the last month’s violence. A public furor forced the city of Marseille to reverse its decision to halt public transportation over the weekend, but its local business council advised shop owners to board up their stores. Many more store owners nationwide are preemptively shuttering their businesses. In Paris, marchers are restricted to certain highly policed routes. Nevertheless, the Louvre will remain closed, while other public events are shutting down early ahead of the expected chaos.
No one seems to believe French authorities can get their hands around the riotous elements in their midst. From the Pittsburgh Steelers, which canceled a weekend fan event in Paris, to the French right, which is planning counterprotests, everyone seems to anticipate more violence.
Forsaken by their nation’s public officials, the French are preparing to take their safety into their own hands.
“A lot of them are saying, ‘Yes, this time, they will fight back,’” said Times of London correspondent Adam Sage. “Will they in practice? I don’t know,” he continued. “When you’re faced with a horde of fifty rioters, looters, there’s probably not much you can do.”
Practical considerations do often militate against a one-man stand against a violent mob. Yet, in the days since last weekend’s rioting, a heroic archetype has emerged in France: the shopkeeper who resists.
Millions in France and worldwide celebrated the stubborn resolve demonstrated by the Nice-based gaming shop owner “Pierre,” who beat back the rioters sacking his shop and was, in turn, beaten himself. Euronews summarized the emerging personality cult around the defiant storekeeper:
Pierre has turned not just into a symbol of courage in France, but he has also become an icon for gamers. An image of him standing defiantly in the shop entrance next to a poster of Goku, a character from the Dragon Ball manga series, has quickly transformed him into a superhero around the world, with some branding him the “French Goku.”
‼️Goku existe y vive en Francia‼️
Todo mi apoyo a este héroe 💪#fotodelaño2026 pic.twitter.com/I5WrPTLd45— KhaN ComicS (@IvaNxKhaN) October 18, 2026
“Pierre” is not alone. A variety of videos of “showing other heroic individuals taking matters into their own hands and facing off against rioters and looters” have since emerged. While the initial footage of the riots featured hapless French citizens pleading unsuccessfully with their attackers to spare themselves and their property, the newer fare finds the French people attacking their tormentors with blunt implements or pouring boiling water down on them from their besieged redoubts.
France’s political class remains besotted with the abstract idea of protest, and they all, irrespective of political affiliation, are inclined to respond to the “social crisis” represented by France’s insolvency with greater profligacy. Only in the aftermath of last weekend’s devastation have its officials mustered the resolve to defend France’s law-abiding citizens. But French authorities squandered public trust long ago.
The people anticipate anarchy. In an anarchic environment, we should expect some to revert to a Hobbesian state, lashing out with brutal force driven by an unrelenting instinct for self-preservation.
An earlier version of this piece indicated that the Steelers canceled a game in Paris rather than a fan event.