Suspect Arrested in Limoges, France, City Hall Arson; Cities Impose Curfews
French cops have arrested a suspect in the arson of the historic city hall in Limoges, France, the burning tower of which is now the symbol for the government’s effete reaction to the communist riots that have engulfed the nation’s major cities.
Suspect Hodei Ciarra Docampo, Le Parisien reported, was on the nation’s watch list. Far-left media described his beliefs as “ultra-left,” the polite way of saying he’s a communist.
Not a single national police officer was at the town hall when what the mayor of Limoges, Guillaume Guerin, called a “premeditated” attack began.
French authorities are imposing curfews in cities across the besieged nation.
Riots Spread
The riots began in late September in Paris. The media quickly labeled them “student” unrest, supposedly over inadequate educational facilities that rioters set ablaze. They quickly spread across the country. About 2,500 people have been arrested.
The shocking behavior of the “students” perhaps peaked when they swarmed into the Place de la Republique and vandalized the monument to the republic called “Marianne,” raised in 1883.
As with the attack on Confederate statues across America, the attacks in France are wanton violence and have little to do with improving education or — as excuses for the rioting continued — the rising cost of living.
Hôtel de Ville
But then came the sad scene in Limoges — which is known for its fine porcelain — on October 17, when leftists stormed the building.
Video across X and other social media showed the city hall’s tower collapsing in flames.
Known as Hôtel de Ville, the stunning edifice was completed in 1883. In 1975, the French government declared it a national monument.
The building is, or was, a sublime example of Renaissance and Louis XIII architecture.
It survived two world wars, including the Nazi occupation of France, but could not survive the modern, multi-cult France ruled by far-left Deep State aparatchiks.
“The urban violence that took place today is unacceptable,” Mayor Guerin said:
Our city hall is not just a building: it is the common home, the beating heart of our city, and the face of the Republic. … The damage is immense. My heart is filled with sadness. But our resolve remains unshakeable. Limoges has weathered many trials, always rising again, united and proud. It will be the same this time. Nothing will deter us from our duty: to protect our employees, serve the residents of Limoges, and defend republican values. Violence and intimidation will never impose their rule on our city.
Guerin said the arson was part of an organized terror attack. “There was a clear, premeditated intention to burn down the town hall, and the people inside feared for their lives,” he told Reuters.
On Sunday, the New York Post reported, the mayor elaborated for reporters.
“The logistics, the organization, the premeditation behind yesterday’s attack on the town hall is something I find unbearable,” he said. “I had no single national police officer to protect the town hall. This country is doing badly, this country is doing very badly, and it’s a small provincial mayor telling you so.”
The “demonstration” in Limoges drew about 5,000 people, Le Parisien reported.
Suspect
Cops arrested Docampo, 34, at 6:15 a.m. yesterday in Val-d’Issoire, about 31 miles from Limoges. According to Le Parisien:
Along with others, he is suspected of having broken windows of the building, which dates back to 1883, to gain entry and set fire to it. The flames destroyed the entire roof of the building, onto which the belfry also collapsed.
The newspaper calls the suspect “Hodei CD.”
“On the authorities’ radar for several years,” Docampo “is the subject of an S file, which designates him as a ‘far-left activist likely to commit violent acts,’” the newspaper continued:
The S file, for “state security,” primarily includes suspects linked to radical Islamism, but also far-left or far-right activists, hooligans, and activists identified within the Black Bloc. Its purpose is to track the movements and associates of individuals listed in the files, as well as to inform law enforcement about intervention procedures.
According to information from Le Parisien, Hodei CD notably participated in actions by the radical French environmental and protest collective, Les Soulèvements de la Terre (Earth Uprisings). The man in his thirties has several entries in the Criminal Records Processing File (TAJ) for acts of “violence against a person holding public authority.”
… Hodei CD was notably tried before the Guéret criminal court in July 2025 for punching a police officer during a demonstration against the proposed Biosyl factory on October 5, 2024. At the hearing, he read a statement about the importance of his commitment to environmental protection. Acquitted at first instance, he was convicted on appeal in Limoges. An appeal to the Court of Cassation is currently pending, according to our colleagues.
Docampo’s father is also an arsonist, the newspaper reported.
Curfews Nationwide
As new protests are expected on Saturday, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said security preparation was “massive,” The Associated Press reported yesterday.
Paris, Lyon, and Marseilles have imposed curfews.
“Paris police said the curfew in two designated zones — around Place de la République and the Les Halles shopping district — had restored ‘public peace’ overnight and would remain in place ‘for as long as necessary,’” AP reported:
The curfew zones leave out other areas hit on Saturday, including the Champs-Elysées and the area around the Saint-Lazare train station and parts of the Rue de Turbigo in central Paris, where protesters set up barricades and lit fires.
In Lyon, one of France’s largest cities, authorities also renewed a curfew in the city center from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., saying no disturbances had been recorded overnight.
Marseilles Mayor Benoît Payan detailed the destruction in his city on X.
“The municipal police station on the Canebière has been vandalized, the doors of the City Hall have been forced open, and numerous businesses have been damaged,” he wrote on October 17.
He continued the next day:
The situation in downtown Marseille is of extreme gravity. The violence of this night is dramatic, and its consequences are absolutely terrible for the residents and shopkeepers.
Yesterday, the city imposed a curfew.
