Looted and Ruined in France's Unrest: Business Owner Warns Macron Has 'One Last Chance to Save the Country'
A French business owner whose family saw 15 of its stores ransacked by looters during last week's violent protests, five of them completely destroyed, has warned President Emmanuel Macron that this coming Saturday's protest could be a watershed moment for France. In her words, next Saturday is Macron's last chance to save France, and if the authorities do not do what is necessary, the country will be lost.
The business owner, Michèle Teboul, made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Digital. Addressing both Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and Macron, she said that if they fail to act as needed next Saturday, she believes it will be over for France.
Teboul's family runs retail operations in Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier, and her sons work within the same company and operate their own brand. The protections put in place before the violence proved insufficient: attackers used axes to break through the boarding meant to keep looters out, she said.
In her account, five of the family's most important stores were looted and left completely destroyed. She lost more than merchandise — she also lost faith in her government's ability to protect businesses like hers, accusing the authorities of failing to provide enough police to protect shops and premises.
It will take at least two months to repair and secure the damaged stores to the standards insurers require, Teboul said. Because meeting those requirements is a condition of insurance coverage, it adds another obstacle to reopening and recovering. 'I think the winter season is dead,' she said.
The government has promised help, she noted, adding that her family is waiting to see whether it materialises. Her sons have hired security guards with dogs. She also said she had heard of other shopkeepers obtaining weapons or tear gas, while emphasising that her own sons had not bought weapons. 'Some have bought weapons,' she said. 'You know, we are not used to weapons in France.'
Teboul accused police of failing to protect businesses during Saturday's unrest, saying officers were overwhelmed as large crowds descended on city centres, particularly in Marseille and Lyon. She cited an estimate she had heard of around 30,000 young people arriving in central Marseille, a figure that could not be independently verified. French broadcaster BFM, citing the prosecutor's estimates, reported that between 1,800 and 3,000 people took part in the ransacking of Marseille's city centre.
The French government has itself acknowledged failures in its response to the unrest. Teboul said the authorities had mistaken the threat for an ordinary demonstration, and insisted the violence could have been prevented.
She also drew a distinction between students protesting over genuine grievances and those who used the demonstrations as cover to steal. There were two events on Saturday, she said: the crowds protesting, and the looters who seized the opportunity they created. The looters, she said, targeted streetwear and expensive merchandise.
Teboul, who is Jewish and a former director of CRIF, the umbrella organisation representing French Jewish institutions, said many Jews are considering leaving France and warned that further disorder could deepen that uncertainty. But she stressed that last weekend's violence is a national problem that concerns the whole of France, not only the Jewish community.
The protests of October 17 and 18 were part of a nationwide mobilisation over the rising cost of living, fuel prices and education funding, parts of which turned violent. Images of looted shops and debris-covered streets in Paris and Marseille captured the scale of the disorder.
For Teboul, the test ahead is whether the authorities can protect what remains of her family's livelihood — and everyone else in the country — and restore a sense of security in France. 'We have to feel secure,' she said. All eyes are now on how the government prepares for this Saturday's demonstrations.
