Cars and coaches were set on fire throughout the night in Paris and parts of the country. (file)
Paris:
President Emmanuel Macron urged calm on Thursday after police arrested 150 people and attacked public buildings in protests over the killing of a teenager, angering France.
Nahel M., 17, was shot in the chest at close range in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday, reigniting a debate about police tactics in France.
Cars and coaches were set ablaze in Paris and parts of the country throughout the night, and protesters fired fireworks at riot police, who fired flashball projectiles. A tramway in a suburb of Paris was set on fire.
“We are fed up with this kind of behaviour. This is for Nahel, we are Nahel,” said two youths calling themselves “the Avengers” as they carried rubbish bins from a nearby property to a burning site in the capital. Were going to the barricade.
Describing the overnight clashes as “unfair”, President Macron told a crisis meeting of ministers that the coming hours and the afternoon’s march to Nahel’s memory in Nanterre should be marked by “contemplation and respect”.
“The past few hours have seen scenes of violence against police stations as well as schools and town halls… against institutions and against the republic,” he said.
The riots are deeply troubling for Emmanuel Macron, who has been trying to move on from half a year of sometimes violent protests over his controversial pension reform.
The teen died as he sped away from police trying to stop him for a traffic violation.
A video circulated on social media and authenticated by AFP showed two policemen standing by the side of a parked car, one of whom pointed a gun at the driver.
A voice is heard saying: “You’re going to get shot in the head.”
As the car suddenly speeds forward, the police officer is seen firing shots.
Clashes first broke out when video surfaced, which contradicted police statements that the teen was driving at the officer.
On Thursday, a prosecutor said the policeman’s use of his weapon did not meet the legal conditions under which such force could be used.
Pascal Prache, the state prosecutor for the area where the killing took place, also said he was being taken before a magistrate on Thursday to charge the policeman with murder, and he said he would seek the officer’s custody. Were staying
Wednesday night’s anger spread to Toulouse, Dijon and Lyon as well as several cities around the Paris region, where some 2,000 riot police were deployed.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter that the violence was “intolerable”.
‘Justice for Nahel’
Near the site of Nahel M.’s murder, masked protesters dressed in black set off fireworks and firecrackers at security forces.
A thick plume of smoke hung over the area, where AFP reporters saw more than a dozen cars and rubbish bins on fire and blocking roads.
Graffiti sprayed on the walls of a building called for “justice for Nahel” and said, “Police will kill”.
In the working-class 18th and 19th districts of northeast Paris, police fired flashballs to disperse protesters, who responded by throwing bottles.
In the southern city of Toulouse, several cars were set on fire and shells were thrown at police and firefighters.
At Fresnes, France’s second largest prison complex, protesters attacked security at the entrance with fireworks.
The town hall of Mons-en-Baroul, outside the northern city of Lille, was set on fire when about 50 hooded men stormed the building, the mayor told AFP.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne was due to visit Garges-les-Gonesses, north of Paris, on Thursday, where the mayor’s office was torched overnight.
‘Material to explode’
France is reeling from fears of a repeat of the 2005 riots sparked by the death of two African-American boys during a police chase. During this 6,000 people were arrested.
“All the ingredients are there for another possible explosion,” a government adviser told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The head of the right-wing Republicans, Eric Ciotti, called for a state of emergency, which allows local authorities to create containment zones.
But there is growing concern over police tactics, particularly against youth from non-white minorities.
Last year, 13 people were killed when police refused to stop for a traffic check, with a change in a law in 2017 giving officers more powers to use their weapons now under scrutiny.
Greens party leader Marine Tondelier said, “What I see in this video is a police killing of a 17-year-old boy in broad daylight in France in 2023.”
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said the officer deserves the “presumption of innocence”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV Staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)