Lightly armored vehicles, elite units and 45,000 men mobilized: The French government took “extraordinary” measures on Friday to stop the cycle of violence, looting and destruction that has rocked many of the country’s cities since the death of a young man on Tuesday a Paris suburb, killed by a police officer while trying to escape a traffic stop.
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Even before the funeral of 17-year-old Nahel, scheduled for Saturday, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on television that he would mobilize large resources to try to stem the violence that is erupting in France for the fourth consecutive year and her Crescendo increases. Spread to new cities.
“More specialized units” such as the RAID and the GIGN – elite police and gendarmerie forces – and 45,000 police officers and gendarmes should be deployed, he told TF1.
AFP
Light armored vehicles from the Gendarmerie were also dispatched to try to defuse tensions from the night before, when 492 buildings were attacked, 2,000 vehicles burned and dozens of shops looted despite the arrest of nearly 900 people.
During the night from Friday to Saturday, just after 00:30 (Friday 22:30 GMT), Mr Darmanin reported on Twitter that “already 270 arrests, including more than 80 in Marseille”, where “reinforcements”, as reported by the town hall required, “arrive”.
AFP
“Big events” across the country have been canceled by the government amid the unrest, including concerts by Mylène Farmer on Friday and Saturday at the Stade de France. Buses and trams were to be shut down nationwide from 21:00 (19:00 GMT).
“The time of violence must end to make way for the time of mourning, dialogue and reconstruction,” demanded the players of the French national football team in a press release by captain Kylian Mbappé.
AFP
Nahel M. was killed at close range by a police officer in Nanterre near Paris on Tuesday as he was driving a high-performance car without a license and attempted to evade control.
“Everybody hates the police”
Violence and looting erupted again on Friday, particularly in Strasbourg (east), where an Apple store was looted, and in Marseille (south), where a demonstration erupted in the evening.
“Everyone hates the police”: Suddenly, dozens and dozens of young people gather, sing and march down the street leading to Marseille’s famous Old Port district, approaching police cars parked on an adjacent street.
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Quickly throw some projectiles at the transporters. The police responded with tear gas. A police helicopter flies over the city.
At least three cities near Paris and several provincial cities have decided to introduce curfews.
AFP
President Emmanuel Macron, who cut short his stay in Brussels on Friday morning, called on families to be responsible when the youth of the violent criminals struck a nerve.
“A third of those arrested last night are young people, some very young people,” he said on Friday, accusing the social networks of fueling this violence by spreading slogans and videos.
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Mr Macron said he expects a “spirit of responsibility” from these platforms, citing Snapchat and TikTok in particular, where “violent rallies” are organized and which he says also inspire “a form of mimicking violence”.
The death of Nahel M., whose family is from Algeria, has revived the issue of police violence in a country where 13 people died in a police stop last year.
UN on racism
During Friday’s regular UN press conference in Geneva, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights urged France “to seriously address the deep-seated problems of racism and racial discrimination among the forces of order.” An accusation that the French Foreign Ministry deemed “completely unfounded” and responded immediately.
The violence also worries France’s neighbors. Britain and other European countries, as well as the United States, warned their nationals to avoid riot zones.
The issue of the state of emergency is being raised by parts of the political world at home and under scrutiny abroad, especially as France hosts the Rugby World Cup in the autumn and the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024.
The state of emergency, which allows administrative authorities to take exceptional measures such as a traffic ban, was declared in November 2005 after ten days of riots in the French suburbs, sparked by the deaths of two teenagers trapped in an electrical transformer they were in , electrocuted hid to escape the police.
This time, Nahel M. was shot in the chest at point-blank range by one of the two police officers who tried to stop his vehicle. The latter, a 38-year-old motorcyclist, was charged with first-degree manslaughter on Thursday and taken into custody. Video shows him leaning on the side of the car and aiming at the driver before firing at point-blank range when the vehicle suddenly restarts.