On the other hand, if I read the news reports correctly, there have been no fatalities thus far, though police have been shot at. If the military were called in, fatalities would be more likely to occur.
But it is clear that simply sending gendarmes to quell the rioters is not working. The whole point in handling a riot is to quell it with as few fatalities and as quickly as possible, while it is still small. This thing has been allowed to go out of control.
As long as people believe they have license to burn and destroy, they will. Military involvement will bring people to their senses in a hurry and remind them that rioting has a price. This thing needs to be stopped--now. I don't know what the French government is using for brains.