Police have fired teargas and clashed with protesters supporting high school student grievances, as demonstrations across France were boosted by other groups angry over high prices and the fraying of a social welfare system.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country, and tensions erupted on the fringes of the nationwide demonstrations over absent teachers, decrepit school buildings and police violence.
Over the last two days I went on Fox News and Newsmax to warn Americans about what’s happening in France. Today, the images speak for themselves.
October 17, 2026. In Marseille, France’s second-largest city, a mob smashed through the doors of City Hall and stormed the lobby chanting "It’s the revolution, we’re taking the Bastille." Shortly before, rioters had trashed a municipal police station, breaking windows and throwing smoke bombs inside. Shops on the main avenue were vandalized and barricades were set on fire. In Paris, masked black bloc crews fired mortar fireworks at police at Place de la République while tear gas filled the square. There were 166 arrests nationwide by midday and more than 600 protests across the country, after weeks of blockaded high schools. The Yellow Vests are back.
Now here’s what every American needs to understand. What are these people demanding? More: higher wages, higher pensions, more public spending, more state. That’s in a country where the government already spends more than half of everything the economy produces.
This isn’t an accident. It’s where 45 years of socialism lead. Since 1981, left or right, every French government has grown the state. Macron is just the final, most polished version of the same system.
Socialism doesn’t create prosperity. It creates dependency. When people rely on the state for everything, every disappointment turns into anger at the state. And the state cannot allocate capital. It doesn’t risk its own money, and it never goes bankrupt when it’s wrong. It just borrows more and taxes more. Productivity stalls, wages stagnate and prices rise. Then people take to the streets demanding even more state. The loop feeds itself until it breaks.
America, watch closely. If the Democrats fully embrace socialism, this is the trailer for what comes next. History is accelerating. It took France decades to get here. It won’t take you nearly as long.
Vote for less government, never more.
— Brivael Le Pogam (@brivael) October 17, 2026
Report of the Yellow Vest movement allying with the “students”.
Lyon, France – tourist office set on fire. This is Europe, these are criminals. https://t.co/VsHcAOZ3Nz
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) October 17, 2026
h/t Mauser
