France Braces For Riots On Day After Deadly Paris Shooting, Deploys Tens Of Thousands Of Police Officers

France is expecting another day of large-scale protests and a potential intensification of the violence and looting witnessed at such demonstrations in recent weeks.

“We will be uncompromising with the vandals, with the looters, and all those who commit acts of violence … We are not talking about a nice, friendly demonstration, we are ready for tomorrow. We will be extremely vigilant, extremely firm, and we will let ​absolutely nothing pass,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told reporters on Friday.

Nuñez added that 70,000 police officers would be deployed to deal with any potential violence. Paris has also closed a number of metro stations in preparation, and the cities of Marseille and Lyon have imposed a total ban on protests for this weekend.

A police intelligence assessment obtained by French newspaper Le Monde estimated that between 60,000 and 120,000 people could take to the streets on Saturday in Paris alone.

The expected protests will occur the day after what French President Emmanuel Macron is terming a “racist terrorist attack” took place in a Parisian suburb. On Friday, a gunman in Trappes, a commune located in the western outer suburbs of Paris, opened fire from a car, killing one person and wounding five more, including a 12-year old girl who was shot eight times.

Macron confirmed that the victim who died was named Pengo Bossio Wangi, a black 26-year-old French MMA fighter. The French leader claimed that the killer had targeted people because of the color of their skin, and reaffirmed his and the French “determination to continue the fight against racism, in all its forms.”

The attack could further politicize the protests, which are being linked by French government officials such as Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to “ultra-left” groups. Nuñez also warned that so-called “ultra-left” organizations had been encouraging activists to unleash lawlessness and target public buildings.

Lecornu has also accused La France Insoumise (LFI), a French far-left party, of having a “political agenda of instilling violence and chaos in the country.”

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the de facto leader of LFI and a presidential candidate for the 2027 French presidential elections, has rejected the accusations, accusing the government of failing to address the socioeconomic issues driving the protests.

The protests began in September as students began protesting against perceived neglect in France’s education system, but have since expanded as the students’ ranks have been swelled by protestors angry about the rising cost of living in France.

In recent weeks especially, the protests have intensified dramatically in violence and scope. Approximately 550,000 took to the streets on October 17, when rioters burned down the 140-year old town hall of Limoges. 2,700 people were arrested across France as a result of those protests, French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Thursday.