Local prosecutors said that at least 15 people have been arrested in connection with the riots that broke out in Limoges and the arson which destroyed the city's historic Town Hall.
The post France: 15 Arrested over Arson That Destroyed 143-Year-Old City Hall Building appeared first on Breitbart.
Local prosecutors said that at least 15 people have been arrested in connection with the riots that broke out in Limoges and the arson which destroyed the city’s historic City Hall.
The supposed demonstration against the cost of living and education spending on Saturday evening saw the destruction of Limoges City Hall, an 1883 Neo-Renaissance building designed to pay homage to Paris’s Hôtel de Ville.
Designated as a historic monument in 1975, the 143-year-old building was largely destroyed in a fire allegedly set by rioters who entered the building. Dramatic images shared on social media show the building’s tower collapsing amid the conflagration.
According to Limoges prosecutor Emilie Abrantes, police have made “more than 15 arrests” in connection with the fire and the riots, which also saw six police cars burned and multiple businesses in the city centre looted.
The Limoges-based Le Populaire du Centre newspaper reported that, according to a City Hall source, “the rioters entered through a cellar door beneath the council chamber. They reportedly threatened to kill those inside.
During the demonstration on 17 October in Limoges protesters set fire to the town hall in Limoges Haute-Vienne in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France on 17 October 2026. (Photo by Elise Cabane / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)
Abrantes said that her entire office has been mobilised to deal with the riots, vowing to “provide a very firm response regarding these criminal acts. The law must prevail.”
Responding to the attack, Mayor of Limoges Guillaume Guérin said while holding a charred French flag rescued from the burnt building: “What happened is unacceptable, shameful; there are no words to condemn it, it’s so despicable.”
“Tonight, I feel pain for my country. Especially in Limoges with the destruction of our City Hall, our common home. It’s hard for me, for the people of Limoges, for those who believe in the values of the Republic. I am very sad for the users, for the people of Limoges. Tonight, they destroyed a magnificent historical building, one that the people of Limoges love, but the Republic will endure.”
Like the federal government, Mayor Guérin also placed blame for the riots on the far-left, whom he accused of “inciting violence”.
“I’ve heard elected officials say that violence is legitimate, and well, this is what happens! It’s hatred of institutions, of high school principals, of the police, of elected officials. These weren’t petty criminals who did this; these were very methodical, organised people. I have no doubt that once the truth comes out, one thing is certain: the perpetrators will be brought to justice,” he said.
Guérin singled out the “behaviour of La France Insoumise”, the far-left party of French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélencon, noting the “presence of two LFI parliamentarians at the start of the demonstration” on Saturday.
This photograph shows a fire burning and destroying the city hall after a group of individuals forced entry into the building during ongoing protest action against the “high cost of living”, in Limoges, central France on October 17, 2026. (Photo by PASCAL LACHENAUD / AFP via Getty Images)
Others expressed similar sentiments, with French MEP Marion Maréchal saying that the burning of the Limoges Town Hall was a “terrible allegory of 10 years of Macronism that have prepared the chaos carried by Mélenchon’s New France.”
Maréchal said earlier this week that the youth protests and riots were a result of mass migration and the failure to integrate people who have a “hatred of France“.
Limoges residents also expressed their dismay over the destruction of the local monument. A high school student said: “My grandmother’s house is 100 meters away. I saw my grandmother cry. My parents got married in that town hall. It’s an attack on the Republic. I’m scared. How far will this go? It’s frightening. I’m so angry about these unacceptable extremist political opportunisms. I’m speechless… It’s the beginning of a civil war.
