France: Limoges' Historic City Hall Burned

This is truly heartbreaking and truly outrageous at the same time. In France, already suffering from a rash of riots by students, migrants, people wearing Palestinian keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, leftists, and other social misfits, October 17 was marked by demonstrations all over France, ostensibly protesting the high cost of living that degenerated predictably into riots in many major cities. In the city of Limoges, hooded rioters overwhelmed police, broke into the old city hall, constructed in 1883, and burned much of it down, including its iconic steeple, as hundreds of townsfolk watched in horror, many in tears.

The below article from today’s Le Figaro is translated by Fousesquawk.

“It is largely lost” The terrible images of the fire of the Limoges City Hall at the edge of October 17 demonstration by Camille Aguille with Agence France Presse.

Posted on October 17 20226 at 21:06, updated October 17, 2026 at 22:19

A group of hooded individuals broke into Limoges City Hall before a fire broke out there.

A roof structure ravaged by flames. “This beautiful Limoges City Hall,” lamented one internet user  Saturday as a fire engulfed the roof of the Limoges City Hall. The fire broke out after a group of individuals attacked the building when violence erupted at the end of the demonstration against the high cost of living.

The fire spread along one wing of the building and reached the roof, whose beams are in danger of collapsing. Around 8 pm, the firefighters were still fighting the flames, trying to prevent the entire building from collapsing. This historic building was inaugurated in 1883, and its architecture was inspired by Paris’ City Hall. “It is largely destroyed,” declared the Prefect of Haute-Vienne.

Clashes near the prefecture

From a distance, hundreds of people watched the blaze, distraught. One employee of City Hall was in tears in the arms of an elected official. Several thousand people participated in her demonstration before the violence broke out at the end of the march. After having burned a municipal police vehicle in front of City Hall, hooded individuals broke windows to penetrate into the interior and set the fire.

“The police no longer had sufficient means to disengage, nor did they further have the capacity to contain the thousands of madmen, anarchists, ultra-leftists, and thugs on the boulevards,” fumed Guillaume Guerin, the LR (Republican) mayor. 

According to him, the municipal police succeeded in getting out of City Hall, “at the moment that the barbarians entered, while telling them they were going to kill them…those were the terms they used tonight. There are those who will be held responsible, but in any case, the responsibility does not lie with the police.”

“This is not stupidity, it is hatred, it’s hatred of the French flag, it’s hatred of the institutions, it’s hatred of the school principals, it’s hatred of the cops, it’s hatred of the elected officials, it’s hatred of everything that embodies authority. It’s not small-time delinquents who did this; it’s people who are very methodical,” the mayor insisted. Four national police vehicles and two from the municipal police were burned or heavily damaged during the violence.

Violence broke out near a highway interchange in the metropolitan area, where rioters set fire to a national police car, according to the daily newspaper, Le Populaire du Centre, while businesses were looted in the city center. Clashes also occurred with police near the prefecture of Haute-Vienne, with the throwing of projectiles, mortars, and tear gas grenades.

Other city halls were also vandalised during this national mobilisation. Individuals penetrated the City Hall of Lille and caused damage. The City Hall of Marseille was also targeted.

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Fousesquawk comment:

Have you had enough, France?

Source: http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2026/10/france-limoges-historic-city-hall-burned.html