France: Video released showing moments before Limoges town hall set on fire, far-left extremist arrested
A newly circulated video posted on Oct. 21 shows the first moments of the Oct. 17 arson at the historic Hôtel de Ville in Limoges, which served as the city hall.
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 21, 2026
JUST IN: This is how the fire at Limoges city hall started. Antifa and migrant youth are present, many of them unmasked. The police have already made one arrest of a far-left extremist known to police. Follow: @RMXnews https://t.co/keDdSd0MAS
The video, which was released by news outlet Le Populaire du Centre, shows a crowd gathering in Place Jacques Chirac made up mainly of Antifa and various youths, many with a clear migration background. The demonstration ended at 5:48 p.m. and a crowd then moved onto the square in front of the city hall. The video shows graffiti reading “ACAB” is visible on the main doors.
Many of the individuals are wearing hoods or masks typical of black-bloc attire, but a significant number, including possible suspects, are unmasked. Shortly after the video begins, intense flames are seen bursting from the building’s windows and upper floors.
According to police, a group of masked individuals smashed windows, entered the 1883 neo-Renaissance landmark, and set fires while staff and others were still inside, leading to the collapse of the roof and clock tower.
https://rmx.news/article/following-mass-riots-france-debt-interest-soars-to-4-94-reaching-risk-levels-not-seen-since-2012/
Prefect Maurice Barate called it a deliberate “heritage catastrophe” by hooligans. Mayor Guillaume Guérin has repeatedly blamed ultra-left militants who infiltrated the larger protest of about 5,000 people, saying the action appeared organized and prepared.
The mayor also gave a tour of the devastated building, stating he refused to call the arsonists vandals or thugs. Instead, he called them “terrorists.”
— Ô.Mercedes (@DolceVenezia74) October 20, 2026
"Il faut que tout le monde voie ces images". Guillaume Guérin, maire de Limoges, nous fait une visite de son Hôtel de Ville sous les décombres. Je me refuse désormais à nommer ces gens-là d’émeutiers ou de casseurs. Ce sont des terroristes. https://t.co/4KgClYxFsl
On the morning of Oct. 20, RAID officers arrested a 34-year-old man identified in French media as Hodei Ciarra Docampo in Val-d’Issoire, roughly 50 kilometers away. He is described as a known ultra-left activist already on France’s “S File” security watchlist, with a prior record of violence against police and involvement in radical environmental groups.
Authorities say video and image evidence helped identify him as a suspect in the arson, however, he is believed to be just one of several suspects. The mayor has called him likely the “brain” of the operation. The investigation, for destruction of property by dangerous means in an organized group, involves the anti-terrorism sub-directorate. Earlier, 17 people linked to the broader unrest in Limoges had been taken into custody.
Reconstruction of the heavily damaged city hall is expected to be costly, and the state has indicated it will assist. As of Oct. 21, the main suspect remains in extended custody while the inquiry continues.
The post France: Video released showing moments before Limoges town hall set on fire, far-left extremist arrested appeared first on Remix News.

JUST IN: This is how the fire at Limoges city hall started.
Antifa and migrant youth are present, many of them unmasked.
The police have already made one arrest of a far-left extremist known to police.
Follow: @RMXnews https://t.co/keDdSd0MAS
"Il faut que tout le monde voie ces images".
Guillaume Guérin, maire de Limoges, nous fait une visite de son Hôtel de Ville sous les décombres.
Je me refuse désormais à nommer ces gens-là d’émeutiers ou de casseurs.
Ce sont des terroristes. https://t.co/4KgClYxFsl
BREAKING: Rioters set fire to the entrance of Vauquelin High School in Paris and blocked the exits when staff tried to put the fire out.
A film crew recorded the terrifying attempted murder.
“The school staff was unable to put out the fire. The rioters blocked them just as the extinguisher nozzle came out; they blocked the exit.”
“The fire continues. You see all the silhouettes moving behind it; they continue to feed this fire, making it stronger and stronger. The school staff is not even going to try to put it out anymore; they can’t manage it. We can hear the principal here asking the hundred confined students to step back and move up to the first floor.”
The building was full of staff, students, and journalists, but these rioters appear ready to kill anyone still inside the vocational chemistry school.
Follow: @RMXnews
BREAKING: A French physics teacher was doused with gasoline today (Oct. 2) while trying to put out a fire students had lit near a tree in La Ciotat.
The teacher was reportedly temporarily blinded, according to French news reports, when the gasoline was thrown into his eyes.
Youths then began kicking the physics teacher.
The main suspect was reportedly arrested.
Yesterday in Marseille, youths are being investigated for attempted murder after dousing a principal and a vice-principal with gasoline during an attempted arson outside a high school administrative office.
Follow: @RMXnews