Far-Left activist known to police is arrested over arson attack that destroyed historic town hall during French riots

An 'ultra-Left' activist known to police has been arrested over the burning down of a historic town hall in France during the country's violent riots.

Hodei Ciarra Docampo, 34, could face up to 20 years behind bars if charged and convicted after allegedly torching Limoges City Hall, a listed building dating back to 1883 whose roof and belfry collapsed in a fire on Saturday.

Heavily armed officers from the elite RAID counter-terrorism unit launched an operation at dawn on the suspect's house in Val d'Issoire, a town 30 miles north of Limoges. 

A prosecuting source said he was known to police, and is understood to belong to ultra-Left extremist groups. 

The groups were not named, but they are believed to be environmental ones linked with radical protest.  

Limoges prosecutors have opened an investigation into 'destruction of property by dangerous means committed by an organised group,' an offence which is punishable with two decades in prison, and a fine equivalent to around £130,000.

Ciarra Docampo is the 'principal suspect' for starting the fire, according to the same prosecutors, although it is 'unlikely that he acted alone'.

He comes from a Basque background, with family in both France and northern Spain. 

Hodei Ciarra Docampo, 34, could face up to 20 years behind bars after allegedly torching Limoges City Hall

Fire engulfed Limoges City Hall after a group of individuals forced entry into the building during Saturday's protest

The destruction of the building came on a night of chaos in which thousands of masked looters ransacked shops and businesses across France 

Guillaume Guérin, the Mayor of Limoges, said a 'full reconstruction' of the City Hall is now necessary, in line with the millions which were spent on restoring Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, following a fire in 2019.

The building's facade is still standing, though at risk of collapse. The interior and roof have been destroyed. 

The destruction of the building came on a night of chaos in which thousands of masked looters ransacked shops and businesses across France, with police ordering new curfews for Tuesday night in a bid to take back control. 

The demonstrations were called in a show of anger against grievances including the rising cost of living and conditions in schools. 

French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin told commercial broadcaster TF1 late Monday that anti-terror prosecutors would soon decide whether to investigate the incident as a suspected terror attack against the town hall organised by the ultra-left.

The Right-wing mayor of Limoges, Guillaume Guerin, has lambasted the response by police, who he said 'lacked the necessary resources' and 'backed down' in the face of rioters.

He called on the government to 'inject millions' to rebuild the town hall, adding that 'the state has failed'. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu was due to visit Limoges on Friday, his office said.

Around 5,000 people, including 700 individuals described by the authorities as 'radicalised and extremely violent', took part in the demonstration in Limoges on Saturday. Some 7,000 people then took part in a protest to denounce the violence on Sunday evening.

Darmanin, visiting the northern city of Lille, whose own town hall was briefly broken into and ransacked by rioters on Saturday, said those behind the violence 'betray France and the image of France'.

He vowed an 'extremely firm' judicial response, warning that otherwise people 'would take justice into their own hands' to stop being attacked.

He said that after fast-track hearings over the violence, 'people with no previous criminal record are being sent to prison', something very unusual in France, where short sentences are often served outside of jail.

In Limoges, 10 people were arrested 'for looting a shop, all of whom were immediately imprisoned,' he said.

At least 2,400 people were arrested after rioters in cities across France on Saturday clashed with police, set cars on fire and stormed public buildings. 

On Sunday evening, small groups set fire to trash bins, bicycles and other objects in the streets and looted businesses in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities.

In the capital, a curfew ran from 11 p.m. on Monday to 6am on Tuesday, and a police helicopter circled over Place de la République overnight, a central point in the weekend clashes, sweeping the square with a searchlight to check that the order was being respected.

Paris police ordered a new curfew for parts of the city on Tuesday overnight, which will run from 9pm local time to 4am.

The curfew applies to the Republic public square in the city's central east, where many weekend clashes took place, and in the central Les Halles district, which is full of shops. 

A ban was also issued for any public gatherings from 6pm Tuesday in Les Halles, near the presidential palace, the parliament and senate buildings, the Champs-Élysées shopping avenue, in the Vendome square where jewellery stores are located, and near train stations. 

Early Tuesday morning, workers used a crane to remove a giant fluorescent yellow vest draped over the statue at the center of the square, a reference to the ' yellow vest ' protests over fuel prices that began in 2018 and shook the first term of President Emmanuel Macron.

Workers then used pressure washers to blast graffiti off the monument.

'The targeted curfews helped keep last night calm,' Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu wrote on X on Tuesday, adding that new curfews would be imposed that night 'wherever the situation requires,' decided locally by prefects, the state's representatives in each region, together with mayors.

France is braced for an 'Act II' of chaos after a website that serves as a platform for the demonstrations announced a second round of action for Saturday, as it hailed what it called a 'legitimate revolt' against the French government and multinational corporations.

Violent clashes continue to shake France amid a nationwide mobilisation over rising living costs 

A man throws a plastic traffic cone through a burning barricade amid clashes during a day of demonstrations against the cost of living and rising fuel prices in Paris, on October 17

A fire burns as police officers in riot gear stand guard during civil unrest, the day after a national day of demonstrations against the cost of living and rising fuel prices, in Paris, on October 18

A woman rides a bicycle past a burning barricade near the Tuileries Garden with the Eiffel tower in the background, amid clashes during a day of demonstrations, October 17

A protester throws a bicycle onto a burning car, October 17

Masked protesters stand next to burning bicycles, October 17

The announcement prompted ministers to commit to tighter security operations after admitting that there had been a breakdown in law and order, as well as what Emmanuel Macron called 'unprecedented violence'.   

Intelligence suggested there would be 200,000 demonstrators on Saturday when in fact there were more than 500,000, as at least 3,000 shops were ransacked and almost 1,000 police officers were injured. 

Amid the upheaval, Macron has demanded a new public order doctrine to abate the violence.

In an address to the nation on Sunday, the president promised action against looters but pledged to listen to the 'legitimate' concerns of peaceful protesters.

His speech was dismissed as 'pathetic' by Jordan Bardella, the chairman of the hard-Right National Rally.

In the middle of the crisis, Macron flew off to the Gulf for a three-day tour of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar, hoping to 'secure' France's energy supplies.

Despite his aim of reducing petrol prices, commentators said the trip made him appear out of touch.

Macron said the tour was necessary because the protest movement 'has its source in the conflict in the Gulf, in which France is not taking part, and from which we are subjected to the consequences'.

CCTV footage shows looters clearing out a French shop amid the riots, October 17

CCTV footage shows a masked group breaking into a jewellery shop in Lyon, October 17

The chaos follows weeks of demonstrations by sixth-formers and university students over what they say are overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings.

At the weekend, a second movement joined forces with the Gen Z demonstrators, this one initiated by calls to reinvigorate the 'yellow vest' protests that emerged over fuel duties and broader economic grievances in 2018.

The website 17octobregiletjaune.net, which was responsible for advertising marches across the country, is now advertising similar actions on October 24.

The organisers state that the movement is the successor to the 'great tipping moments of history' such as the French Revolution, the suffragettes and the resistance to the Nazi occupation of France during World War Two.

Opponents argue the yellow vests are a front for the radical Left France Unbowed party, who they accuse of using violence to subvert democracy.

Sébastien Lecornu, the Prime Minister of France, said the party aimed to 'orchestrate deep unrest across the country' in the hopes of undermining next year's presidential election.

But Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the movement's presidential candidate, denied the claims, instead accusing the government of fanning the flames of disorder via police brutality and a failure to meet the protesters' demands.

France's worst bout of civil unrest in years has plunged Macron's final months in office deeper into turmoil, exposing the powerlessness of a leader struggling to contain social anger with little money to spend, scant political capital and an increasingly fragile grip on public order.

Protesters in front of burning barricades in the Strasbourg Saint Denis area of Paris, October 17

The rioting that swept across France on Saturday, leaving a trail of looted shops, torched buildings and defaced public institutions, presents Macron with perhaps the most explosive challenge of his twilight presidency: a country demanding more from a state that can no longer afford to give much.

Macron came to power almost a decade ago promising to upend France's sclerotic political class, turbocharge economic reforms and restore authority through a more assertive presidency.

Instead, with just six months left in office, he finds himself effectively a lame-duck head of state presiding over a country mired in political paralysis, facing acute financial pressures and grappling with unrest that has exposed the limits of state authority.

Unlike during the yellow vest uprising of 2018-2019, when Macron sought to defuse public anger with billions of euros in concessions, France's strained public finances and fractured parliament leave him with precious few levers to pull.

Even former allies are now openly scathing, tracing the country's current impasse to Macron's decision to call a snap parliamentary election in 2024 that weakened his authority.