France was rocked this weekend by some of the most intense riots in years, amid protests over the ongoing cost of living crisis. And in Nice, on the south coast, a games store worker named Pierre went viral for trying to chase away rioters in front of a broken Micromania.
The video shared on X showed the man standing in the store’s doorway next to an image of Goku from Dragon Ball Z before briefly leaving his perch to attempt to chase away some of the people contributing to the chaos. At one point, as he was returning to the store, someone hit him with an air kick from behind, shocking the crowd of onlookers. He gets up and continues to stand in front of the Micromania door while someone else gives him back his glasses.
He told French radio ICI that what he did was probably stupid and that he did it without thinking. “I can’t intellectualize what happened. Maybe it will come later,” he said (via machine translation). “I think I shouldn’t have done it in the first place. It was stupid. But at the time, that’s what I did.”
Asaltan a Micromania tienda in Nice and agreen al due to intend to defend it: pic.twitter.com/kD8OgE2hWr
— Wall Street Wolverine (@wallstwolverine) October 17, 2026
Protests have intensified since last month due to frustrations over poor school conditions and inflation across the economy. The anger has been fueled in part by the French government’s attempt to push through an austerity bill that would further cut social services. According to reports, 800,000 protesters turned out over the weekend, with rioters vandalizing around 1,500 stores. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez apologized for the police’s lack of preparation. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called on cities like Marseille to introduce a curfew.
But Pierre does not despise the protest movement. “We must not forget that it’s still a minority in terms of attitude“, he said of the rioters. “For the rest of the procession, it went pretty well. There are a few bad apples, but they are not the majority.
NEWS 🚨🇫🇷 | Hundreds of Pokémon cards found scattered over several meters in the streets of Lille, after the fire at the “Le Coin des Barons” store. pic.twitter.com/vCe61fdUfk
— L’infoduNord (@INFODUNORD) October 17, 2026
Other geek shops across France were among the many stores vandalized. The one on Boulevard Voltaire in Paris would have been emptied of all its retro games, which suggests that the stores will not be able to reopen. Collectible card stores belonging to the Le Coin des Barons chain were also affected. A viral video showed a nighttime street dotted with Pokémon cards.
According to reports, 2,000 people have been arrested in connection with the weekend’s chaos. “Those who destroyed must pay,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. “Those who looted must pay back. Those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable.” But he also said he would listen to protesters’ demands at meetings this week to consider concrete proposals to address the nation’s frustrations.
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