« Nights of violence » and « Attack against democracy » is the narrative the government and (some) media stick to, because they can’t lose face. We’ve been calling it out for a long, long time now, both in France and in the rest of the world. Situation in France escalated dramatically since 2016 and the law « El Khomri » relative to work rights, but (unfortunately) even quicker since Macron became President, as he will not consider people’s voice.
In 2017, a law was relative to firearms passed the Parliament, giving police officers more latitude as to when they are allowed to use them.