BBC calls France protests 'mostly peaceful' as footage shows rioters torching cars, battling police

BBC "News at Ten" host Jane Hill introduced a Sunday report detailing widespread , where thousands were arrested and nearly 1,000 law enforcement and emergency personnel were injured, before the network's Paris correspondent described the demonstrations as "mostly peaceful" while footage showed burning cars, looted businesses and violent clashes with police.

Hill outlined the scale of the destruction before introducing Paris correspondent James Waterhouse's report on the nationwide unrest.

"Across the country, nearly a thousand police officers and firefighters were injured. The Interior Ministry says nearly 2,400 people were arrested," Hill said.

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Despite the figures, Waterhouse characterized the while reporting on the approximately half-million people who gathered across France to protest rising living costs and deteriorating public services.

"In Paris and beyond, half a million people had filled cities across France to protest over the future of their country. They were mostly peaceful, but as we saw in the capital, in the wings were those who wanted to take advantage of the disorder," Waterhouse said.

The BBC defended its coverage in a statement to Fox News Digital, maintaining that its reporting accurately reflected the scale of the unrest while distinguishing between peaceful demonstrators and those responsible for the violence.

"No one watching, reading or listening to BBC News coverage of the France protests and riots can be in any doubt as to what was happening – there is coverage of the fires, the looting and violence," the spokesperson said. "James Waterhouse and the team of reporters in France over the weekend gave broader context to the protests and riots – making the point that as well as the destructive scenes, several hundred thousand people were on the streets in peaceful protest, and those carrying out the violence and looting were a small fraction of that number."

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The White House responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the escalating violence in France, a key U.S. ally, by pointing to two Truth Social posts from President Donald Trump addressing the unrest.

In his Sunday post, Trump blamed immigration for the violence and urged French authorities to close the country's borders.

"France is burning! The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country," Trump said.

The president doubled down on his immigration concerns in a Monday morning post, calling for immediate border restrictions.

"The migrants have taken over France. They must CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST! President DJT."

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The BBC's footage showed masked rioters clashing with police, setting vehicles ablaze and ransa