SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
France is bracing for another round of violent protests tomorrow. Last weekend, antigovernment demonstrations turned into some of the most destructive riots there in years. More than 2,500 people were arrested across the country, and thousands of businesses were looted or vandalized. In Paris, Rebecca Rosman spoke with some shop owners to see how they're managing.
REBECCA ROSMAN, BYLINE: The Place de la République in central Paris has long been a gathering point for protests. Last weekend, it also became the center of some of the worst violence the capital has seen in years.
And it's just one shop after another completely boarded up.
Windows shattered, storefronts graffitied, the skeletons of news kiosks and bus stations burnt to a crisp. The French government says 450 shops across Paris were damaged or looted.
ABDUL MAHMOUD: (Non-English language spoken).
ROSMAN: Restaurant owner Abdul Mahmoud says he watched, frozen in horror, as dozens broke open his front door, grabbing drinks and clearing out the cash registers.
MAHMOUD: (Non-English language spoken).
ROSMAN: "We all have a right to protest," he says, "but vandalism, that's a different matter."
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Non-English language spoken).
ROSMAN: Protests started peacefully last month when high school students mobilized to demand better conditions in schools. Last weekend, however, the students converged with wider groups protesting the rising cost of living. Protesters say those who ransacked shops were opportunists who took advantage of the situation by embedding themselves with peaceful demonstrators. Early estimates suggest over $1 billion in property damage from last weekend alone.
LAURENT NUÑEZ: (Non-English language spoken).
ROSMAN: On Friday, the French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes would be mobilized across the country this weekend. But demonstrators also accuse the police of using too much force.
NICOLAS FOURNIER: Even there is not a lot of people, they will throw grenades.
ROSMAN: That's 25-year-old Nicolas Fournier, who works in a cafe on the Place de la République and says he supports the protests, even some of the looting.
FOURNIER: People who steal, they are just getting what they didn't get from the government. I'm not mad at them at all.
ROSMAN: He says this is a historic moment.
FOURNIER: I think we're in a second French Revolution.
ROSMAN: Everyone in France right now is angry, he says, and they believe that showing their anger is the only way to make things change.
Rebecca Rosman, NPR News, Paris.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.