What happened
Paris is preparing for a new wave of far-left protests, with shop owners taking measures to protect their businesses from potential violence and looting. The city's police chief, Patrice Faure, has advised shop owners near the protest routes to hire private security agents and lower their shutters, sparking criticism from those who say the government is failing to fulfill its duty to protect citizens.
Last week's protests devolved into violence, looting, and arson, with 451 shops vandalized and 228 looted in the capital. The government estimates that around 3,000 businesses were hit nationwide. In response, many shop owners are hiring private security guards, with requests for quotes doubling since the riots.
Critics, including members of the European Parliament and the conservative Reconquest party, have accused the government of asking shopkeepers to pay for private security out of their own pockets, which they see as an admission of the state's inability to protect its citizens. The police chief's advice has been described as an admission that the government was failing in its duty to protect citizens.
