The Gendarmerie has a double status: it's a military force but it's mission is one of police. Now, a state (democratic or not) _has to_ show force, because tha

The Gendarmerie has a double status: it's a military force but it's mission is one of police. Now, a state (democratic or not) _has to_ show force, because that's one of the definitions of a state: an entity that takes the monopoly on violence. Given the violence that demonstrated itself in some very specific places by very specific groups of people (and disrupted things even worse for others), it has to be expected that the state reacts. The contrary would be a sign of weakness through which more chaos would pour.