984 cars burned, 420 arrests and 310 police custody in France, according to a report from the Ministry of the Interior

These figures are increasing compared to 2023, with increases of 10.53% for arrests and 32.08% for vehicles set on fire.

In a press release, the Ministry of the Interior takes stock of the night of December 31, this Wednesday, and counts 984 vehicles burned and 420 arrests, of which 310 resulted in police custody. These figures are an increase compared to 2023, when 380 people were arrested during the New Year's Eve party, and 745 cars were burned. The increase this year is 10.53% for arrests, and 32.08% for vehicles set on fire.

According to this press release, “numerous uses of mortars were noted by the services”and sometimes “directly targeting internal security forces.” Incidents broke out on Monday, December 30 in Strasbourg, with vehicles set on fire and arrests in several neighborhoods.

The Minister of the Interior deplores several serious incidents during New Year's Eve, linked to the use of mortars. In Lyon, a two-year-old child was “hurt in the face” and risk “a permanent disability”as well as an incident “Thonon-les-Bains, where an individual was transported in absolute emergency following the use of mortar”.

Bruno Retailleau writes that he “chose to communicate” the numbers, he “committed to speaking truth to the French”. He deplores a record “still too heavy”product “a savagery embodied by cowards, thugs who attack the property of often modest French people, who do not have the means to protect their vehicles in private parking lots”. It underlines the commitment of “90,000 police officers and gendarmes” on the national territory, and “congratulate” his colleague Keeper of the Seals, Gérald Darmanin, for his “first statements”. He invites him to engage “together, the battle against impunity”.