After a police officer fatally shot a 17-year-old, violent riots broke out in France for the fourth night in a row. Nationwide, 1,311 people were arrested, the French Interior Ministry said on Saturday. According to initial information, 79 police officers and gendarmes were injured during the night. However, according to the government, the violence decreased overall.
According to preliminary figures from the Ministry of the Interior, 1,350 vehicles were set on fire on Saturday night, 234 buildings were set on fire or damaged and 2,560 fires were counted on roads. According to the balance sheet, the number of arrests increased by more than 400 people to a total of 1311 compared to the previous night.
In the cities of Marseille, Lyon and Grenoble, itinerant groups looted shops. A major fire broke out in a supermarket in Marseille – the fire was “connected to the riots,” police sources said. In central Marseille, young and often masked demonstrators threw objects at police vans, reporters from the AFP news agency observed. The police responded by using tear gas.
The unrest also continued in Paris. According to the authorities, the rioters are mobile, connected and often “very young” people.
During a visit to Mantes-la-Jolie west of Paris on Saturday, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin spoke of a “significantly lower intensity” of violence compared to the previous night, despite the renewed riots.
The French authorities tightened their measures again on Friday to get the situation under control again. 45,000 police officers and gendarmes were mobilized, around 5,000 more than the night before.
In addition, as a new measure, bus and tram traffic across the country was stopped from 9 p.m. Several major events have also been cancelled.
The sale of fireworks, petrol cans and flammable and chemical products was systematically prohibited. At least three municipalities near Paris, as well as several other places, imposed night curfews.
President Emmanuel Macron had previously denounced an “unacceptable instrumentalization of the death of a young person” at a crisis meeting. Around a third of those arrested are “young, sometimes very young”. Macron appealed to parents to ensure that their children do not take part in the violent protests.
The protests and riots were triggered by the death of 17-year-old Nahel M. The teenager, whose family is from Algeria, was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday. The funeral ceremonies began in Nanterre on Saturday afternoon, and the funeral was to take place in the early afternoon.
The youth’s death reignited resentment by many in France’s low-income and multicultural suburbs against alleged “racial profiling” by the police. There is talk of “racial profiling” when people are controlled because of their external characteristics, such as the color of their skin.
An investigation has been launched against the suspected shooter. According to the public prosecutor’s office, he is accused of “intentional homicide”. According to his lawyer, the officer in custody asked the victim’s family for forgiveness.
