Some Parisians buy pepper spray and tear gas, citing self-defence ahead of protests

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The Straits Times. (2026, October 23). Some Parisians buy pepper spray and tear gas, citing self-defence ahead of protests. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/some-parisians-buy-pepper-spray-and-tear-gas-citing-self-defence-ahead-of-protests

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Straits Times · collected 2026-10-23 · by The Straits Times

Quick Summary

Paris residents are purchasing pepper spray and tear gas from local shops ahead of anticipated protests, citing self-defense concerns. The owner of a weapons shop reported an uptick in sales since recent nationwide demonstrations turned violent, with products including small non-lethal tear-gas cannisters under 100 millilitres. Shopkeepers are among those arming themselves to protect their businesses as the government plans to deploy up to 70,000 police officers for protests scheduled over the weekend.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-23, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Global protests in France over high living costs and declining public services have led to widespread unrest. Last weekend saw violent riots erupt across major cities including Paris, Marseille, and Lyon, resulting in extensive looting, vandalism, and clashes with police forces. In response, the French government has deployed approximately 70,000 law enforcement officers nationwide for security operations on Saturday, aiming to prevent further civil disturbances.

Paris is implementing additional measures such as closing major tourist attractions like the Louvre Museum. Requests for rallies by student unions and the Yellow Vest movement have been denied in Paris, while a union march has been authorized along a limited route east of the city center. The government blames ultra-left groups for inciting violence through social media.

In anticipation of potential unrest, some residents are purchasing self-defense weapons including pepper spray and tear gas to protect themselves and their property. Shopkeepers have also stocked up on defensive tools amid fears of looting during planned demonstrations this weekend. French President Emmanuel Macron has called the protests "illegitimate" and is meeting with high school unions in an attempt to address underlying grievances before the upcoming presidential elections. The government acknowledges losing control over the situation last week, indicating a significant challenge ahead in restoring order and addressing public concerns.

Written for “French Protests Braces For Unrest” on 2026-10-23, grounded in this article and the 15 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 102199: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-23

Story

📰 French Protests Braces For Unrest
Politics · 16 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 3% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Paris police in new battles with protesters and looters different event · 95%
South China Morning Post
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 64
“Article A describes ongoing battles between protesters and looters on a specific day, while Article B discusses preparations for potential protests ahead of future events.”
France protests: Paris police issue overnight curfew in two areas to try to prevent further disorder different event · 95%
The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 10 📰 publisher trust 77
“The articles describe different stages of the protest-related events; Article A reports on an overnight curfew issued after riots, while Article B describes preparations by Parisians ahead of expected continued protests.”
France protests latest: Shopkeepers stock up on weapons as Paris braces for another weekend of chaos same event · 95%
The Independent
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 21% hedged 3 of 14 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles describe Parisians buying self-defense weapons specifically to protect themselves during expected protests.”
France braces for day of far-Left chaos: Shopkeepers and terrified civilians arm themselves ahead of rioting and looting expected in Paris when protests return tomorrow same event · 95%
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 25 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe Parisians preparing for anticipated protests by obtaining weapons or self-defense items due to recent unrest.”
France calls in troops to contain Oct 24 protests, prevent riots and looting different event · 85%
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 6% hedged 2 of 33 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles describe different aspects of the protest situation leading up to October 24, rather than the same specific incident.”
France braces for more unrest as police tactics and weapons face scrutiny different event · 70%
South China Morning Post
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 5 📰 publisher trust 64
“The articles describe different aspects of an ongoing situation but do not focus on the same specific incident or time.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
29
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
3%
1 of 29 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
68/100
The Straits Times's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
16
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 4 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

The Straits Times
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🔮 Parisians are buying tear-gas cannisters and pepper sprays to defend themselves and their property during protests, which are expected to continue over the weekend, the owner of a weapons shop in the French capital told Reuters.
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Topics

France French PARIS Parisians Reuters

Subjects

Reuters ORG · 7× PARIS GPE · 6× Gollety PERSON · 5× France GPE · 4× Parisians NORP · 3× French NORP · 2× Le Parisien ORG · 1× UNEF ORG · 1× Yellow Vest ORG · 1× Yves Gollety PERSON · 1×

Narrative

"It's the first time that we've seen such an increase, and with all segments of the population," Gollety said, adding that his customers include shopkeepers, restaurant owners and individuals. "People have been physically traumatised and are afraid," he said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-23
🔮 Parisians are buying tear-gas cannisters and pepper sprays to defend themselves and their property during protests, which are expected to continue over the weekend, the owner of a weapons shop in the French capital told Reuters.
2026-10-23 · The Straits Times
Some Parisians buy pepper spray and tear gas, citing self-defence ahead of protests · assertive framing

Claims (29 extracted, 1 hedged)

Some Parisians buy pepper spray and tear gas, citing self-defence ahead of protests PARIS, Oct 23 - asserted
Parisians → buy → protests
Parisians are buying tear-gas cannisters and pepper sprays to defend themselves and their property during protests, which are expected to continue over the weekend, the owner of a weapons shop in the French capital told Reuters. asserted
owner → buy → Reuters
France was hit by its worst social unrest in years last weekend as nationwide protests over high prices and declining public services erupted into riots. asserted
protests → hit → riots
A town hall was torched, shops pillaged and buildings covered in graffiti as violent groups clashed with police in cities across the country. asserted
groups → torch → country
Police have authorised only a union demonstration in Paris on Saturday, rejecting requests for rallies lodged by France's main student union, UNEF, and the anti-establishment Yellow Vest movement. asserted
Police → authorise → union
At the Armurerie de la Bourse weapons shop in central Paris, owner Yves Gollety told Reuters he has seen a big increase in the sale of non-lethal weapons since the weekend. asserted
he → tell → weekend
Shops just 30 metres (33 yards) away had been looted, with their shutters torn off, he said. asserted
he → loot → ?
"It's the first time that we've seen such an increase, and with all segments of the population," Gollety said, adding that his customers include shopkeepers, restaurant owners and individuals. "People have been physically traumatised and are afraid," he said. asserted
he → see → shopkeepers
The top-selling products are pepper sprays and tear-gas cannisters, which Gollety said could only be used in self-defence. uncertain
Gollety → sell → defence
Gollety, who is also president of the national association of gunsmiths, told French newspaper Le Parisien that orders had increased tenfold. asserted
orders → tell → Parisien
Members of the public are only allowed to buy small cannisters under 100 millilitres in size, Gollety said. asserted
Gollety → allow → size
Reuters found no evidence that people in Paris were buying other types of weapons in response to the protests. asserted
people → find → protests
Alain Di Crescenzo, the president of France's chamber of commerce, urged shopkeepers to refrain from using weapons to defend their businesses. asserted
Crescenzo → urge → businesses
Speaking on the radio station Europe 1 on Friday, he said that he had personally seen shopkeepers arming themselves with baseball bats, crowbars and shotguns. asserted
shopkeepers → speak → bats
Reuters was not able to independently verify this. asserted
Reuters → verify → this
“It’s extremely worrying,” he said. asserted
he → ’ → ?
“It’s not their job to do that... asserted
It → ’ → that
It would add suffering onto suffering." asserted
It → add → suffering
"The police must be left to do their jobs and I recommend the utmost caution," he added. asserted
he → leave → caution
"YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED" asserted
YOU → have → ?
A shopkeeper who sells motorbikes and scooters in Paris' 15th arrondissement told Reuters he bought three large tear-gas cannisters, plus another small one, to protect his shop. asserted
he → sell → shop
"You can be taken by surprise, with people arriving without any prior warning. asserted
people → take → warning
So you have to be prepared," said the shopkeeper, who asked not to be identified. asserted
who → have → ?
France's government has pledged tougher security, and will deploy 70,000 police backed by specialist units for protests on Saturday, but the increase in people considering how to defend themselves illustrates Parisians' fears as the weekend approaches. asserted
weekend → pledge → fears
One man visiting Gollety's shop, a 58-year-old finance worker who did not want to be identified, said he had researched self-defence options, although he had ultimately not bought anything on this occasion. asserted
he → visit → occasion
"Given what happened last week and the risk it happens again next weekend, I would prefer to be sensible and protect myself," he said, adding he had had a longstanding feeling of being unsafe. " asserted
he → give → feeling
I've been thinking about this for a long time and I think I'm going to take some steps," he said. asserted
he → think → steps
Elsewhere in Paris, Yvan Weiss, who owns a finance consulting firm, told Reuters he was taking steps to avoid his shop's windows being broken. asserted
windows → own → steps
Asked if he considered getting pepper spray or other defensive gear, he said he had thought about it but in the end decided to get mechanical metal shutters for his shopfront instead. asserted
he → ask → shopfront
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