President Donald Trump on Sunday urged France to secure its borders to “people with hatred in their hearts” as protests throughout the country rage, with police arresting approximately 1,800 people in the violent demonstrations.
“France is burning!” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country. Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!”
The protests ignited last month as students took to the Parisian streets to object to the perceived insufficiencies in the French school system, but the demonstrations have since expanded across the country to include issues with cost of living and energy prices.
Violence has erupted in Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, and other French cities in recent weeks, with infrastructure falling victim to the rioters. Protesters broke into City Hall in Marseilles and knocked over a bust of Marianne, a longtime symbol of the republic, while a tourism office in Lyon was also broken into and set ablaze. A statue of Joan of Arc in Paris was also vandalized, according to videos on social media. The small city of Ligomes’s town hall is “largely lost” after being set on fire, according to AFP.
According to the French Interior Ministry, more than 500 police officers have suffered injuries as they have increasingly used force in an attempt to subdue protests. At least one protester died in Paris during the demonstrations, two teenagers suffered severe injuries, and hundreds more have been injured as a result of clashes with police.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out against the protests on Saturday, condemning the destruction of national landmarks and attacks on law enforcement.
“No room for violence in our Republic,” he said, referencing the increasingly hostile clashes between protesters and police. “Those who have broken, attacked the prefectures as well as businesses, looted even our town halls, will be prosecuted.”
Macron framed the escalation of the protests as “sowers of chaos” infiltrating peaceful demonstrations seeking to reform education policies.
“We will all stand united against the sowers of chaos, who seek only to bring down our institutions and prevent those who peacefully express their demands from doing so,” he said.
He had previously said young people’s “legitimate concerns” were being “exploited for political purposes and turned into urban violence.”
Macron is slated to hold an emergency meeting with French officials on Sunday to address the outbreak of violence and will address the country at 8 p.m.