The Counterterrorism Sub-directorate (SDAT) has taken over the investigation of the fire that destroyed the Limoges City Hall during the demonstrations on October 17 in France. A 40-year-old man, previously flagged by the police and linked to far-left groups, was arrested early Tuesday in the town of Val d'Issoire as the main suspect of the arson.
"The desire to burn down the City Hall was premeditated, and we are certain that there were prior explorations to decide how to do it," declared Limoges mayor, Guillaume Guérin, from the moderate right-wing party The Republicans. "The far-left organized the logistics," added the mayor, who blamed "a group of anarchists and anti-capitalists dressed in black who were equipped for urban guerrilla warfare" for the incident.
The police did not provide further details on the identity of the detainee or his links to local extremist groups. President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu pointed in recent days to "small far-left groups" as suspects in the wave of violence and looting that shook France over the past weekend.
The involvement of the Counterterrorism Sub-directorate in the investigation adds a new dimension to the events of October 17, amid suspicions of a preconceived plan to assault city halls. In Marseille, dozens of protesters violently stormed the town hall, and mayor Benoît Payan personally called Macron to request reinforcements.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin stated that 70% of the over 2,300 individuals detained since October 17 are adults, many with prior police records. "These are not high school students," emphasized the Justice Minister, distinguishing them from the over 8,000 individuals detained since the start of student protests at the end of September (85% of whom are minors).
Darmanin issued instructions to French prosecutors on Monday to classify the violence linked to the October 17 protests as "organized crime", potentially extending the police detention period from 48 to 72 hours. "This will allow us to conduct phone taps and geolocations to determine where they were when the shops were looted and the city halls were assaulted," he stated.
"There will be no need to declare a state of emergency in France," Darmanin finally warned, positively assessing the implementation of the first curfews on Monday in the areas most affected by looting in Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Lille, and other cities.
"Tonight, new curfews will be decided where the situation requires it," wrote Prime Minister Lecornu on his X account. Marseille and Nice could join the list of cities where circulation will be restricted with police controls between eleven at night and six in the morning on Tuesday.