More than 700 arrested after riots in France following Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League triumph | Today’s news
French law enforcement authorities arrested 780 people after a wave of violent clashes that broke out in Paris and several other cities on Saturday night. Riots broke out shortly after Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League title.
Widespread destruction and casualties
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 57 police officers were injured, mostly minor, when unruly soccer fans lit fires and looted storefronts. In one of the most extreme incidents of the night, a small crowd tried to break into a Paris police station.
Nunez said at a press conference Sunday that “the situation has been largely brought under control.”
“Most of the celebrations were peaceful” across the French capital, he said, adding that most of the incidents happened in the Champs Elysees district and near the Parc des Princes stadium in western Paris, where fans had gathered to watch the match.
Police were also forced to intervene five times overnight to stop rioters blocking traffic on Paris’ main ring road.
According to Nunez, the riots rocked roughly 15 cities across the country Francewith “one to two” shops vandalized in every village outside the capital. Out of a total of 780 arrests across the country, 480 took place in the Paris metropolitan area alone.
Lawsuit
The Paris prosecutor’s office announced that 277 people – including 82 minors – had been placed in formal police custody. Most face charges of assaulting law enforcement officers, while others are accused of theft, damage to property and disorderly conduct.
The chaos also led to a serious traffic accident where the driver lost control and crashed into the restaurant’s outdoor patio, injuring two people, one seriously.
Enforcement stance
Despite the wreckage, Nunez confirmed that Sunday afternoon’s official victory celebrations on the Champ de Mars near the Eiffel Tower would go ahead. But he warned that security forces would respond “firmly and decisively” to any further breach. After the public rally, the PSG team will be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.
Chaos on the Champs-Élysées
The riots originally started as a celebratory rally immediately after the final whistle in Budapest, Hungary, where Paris Saint-Germain beat Arsenal on penalties in a dramatic final showdown.
Large crowds quickly flooded the streets around Paris’ iconic Arc de Triomphe, with fans lighting flares and honking car horns. An estimated 20,000 people crowded the Champs-Élysées, where a heavily deployed police force struggled to maintain order.
The Paris police prefecture noted that splinter factions soon began inciting violence in various neighborhoods. These groups set garbage cans on fire, destroyed self-service bikes and set several cars on fire. A mob that tried to attack a police station in the upscale 8th arrondissement was eventually dispersed by law enforcement.
This weekend’s violence marks a visible escalation since May last year, when PSG’s first championship win left 201 injured in the capital and more than 500 arrests across the country.
