Estimated number of looters

The prosecutor of the Republic of Marseille, Nicolas Bessone, estimated on Thursday, October 22, that between 1,800 and 3,000 people participated in the looting of the city center in Marseille on Saturday, October 17. He condemned the presence of habitual criminals as well as people without criminal records, whom he called upon to a "reawakening."

Structure of the looting

The official described a structured organization among the people tasked with breaking windows, those who entered the stores to retrieve goods, and opportunists who followed. "There is a quasi-military organization, with strong individuals wearing hoods who break the windows, people who enter with bags, who are part of the same organizations, to retrieve the goods, and then opportunists behind," he explained, mentioning "an indescribable chaos."

Moral concerns raised

The prosecutor also condemned scenes that he said he witnessed directly in the city center of Marseille, where he was with police officers. "I call on the entire society to reawaken," he said. "I witnessed directly (…) mothers of families fighting over a teapot. But in what kind of society do we live?" he said, lamenting a "considerable loss of moral value." "I call on the entire society to reawaken," he added.

Discrepancy in figures

When asked about the discrepancy between his estimate and the figures declared by the prefecture, which had stated the presence of 30,000 looters, who had spoken of tens of thousands of looters, Nicolas Bessone indicated that he did not want to comment on these data. "In the city center of Marseille, I consider that we were around 3,000 looters," he affirmed, specifying that this figure did not take into account the rioters.