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France deploys 70,000 security personnel for Halloween protest weekend
Authorities warn that festive masks could allow rioters to conceal their identities as France braces for a third consecutive Saturday of unrest.
France mobilised 70,000 security personnel on Saturday as authorities sought to prevent a third successive weekend of street violence, this time compounded by Halloween, when rioters could use festive masks to hide their identities.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described the day as carrying "a very high risk" of unrest and pledged "an extremely firm response to any trouble." The deployment matches the number mobilised the previous weekend.
The protests have been driven by anger over living costs and public services. Shopkeepers across France boarded up storefronts ahead of the demonstrations. Alain Di Crescenzo, president of France's chamber of commerce, said business owners wanted the day to be over and warned that Halloween was adding to the risk because of the masks.
The October 17 unrest set the benchmark authorities are seeking to avoid repeating.
Sources — how we know this
2 independent sources corroborated this
- PrimaryFrance 24 (EN)
- CorroboratingAl Jazeera English