45,000 police were on duty, but there were violent riots and looting for the fourth consecutive night. The President of France cancels his visit to Germany.
Even on the fourth night after the death of a 17-year-old by police violence, there were serious riots across France. More than 1,300 people have been arrested, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday. However, the extent of the violence was less than the night before, according to the preliminary report. The young man, whose death sparked nationwide protests, is due to be laid to rest on Saturday in his hometown of Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. The roads leading to the cemetery will be cordoned off.
There were no buses into Nanterre in the morning. It was silent. A group of about 30 young people stood guard at the entrance to the funeral home. They asked people not to take pictures. Police could not be seen as mourners gathered at a nearby mosque. “We are not part of the family and we didn’t know Nahel, but we were very moved by what happened in our city”, said one of the young people. “So we wanted to express our condolences.”
45,000 police on duty
During the night there were violent riots not only in Paris, but also in Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Lille. According to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, 45,000 police were on duty across the country, 5,000 more than the day before. More than 2,000 people have been arrested since the unrest began, and the average age is 17, according to Darmanin. According to official figures, 200 police officers were injured. An estimated 2,000 vehicles were set on fire, several buildings were engulfed in flames, and dozens of stores were looted.
Despite the massive police presence, the situation in France is not under control. NACHO DOCE
According to official information, 80 people were arrested overnight in Marseille alone. Many people of North African descent live in France’s second largest city. Images circulating on social media show an explosion in the old port area. City officials said they were investigating the cause. However, it is not assumed that there were casualties. In the city center, protesters looted a gun shop and stole some hunting rifles but no ammunition, police said. A person with a weapon suspected of theft was arrested and the store is now under police surveillance.
Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan called on the government to immediately deploy additional security forces. “Scenes of looting and violence are unacceptable,” he wrote on Twitter late on Friday.
In Lille, France’s third-largest city, police used armored vehicles and a helicopter. In Paris, police cleared the Place de la Concorde, the largest square in the capital, on Friday night. A large number of people gathered there for a protest demonstration.
A burnt-out bus on Friday night. YVES HERMAN
Will the state of emergency be declared in the country?
The outbreak of violence has plunged President Emmanuel Macron and his government into the worst crisis since the 2018 yellow vest protests. “We do not rule out any hypothesis and we will see what the President of the Republic decides after tonight”, he told TF1 on Friday night. However, the head of state canceled his state visit to Germany. In fact, he wanted to travel to Germany on Sunday for a three-day state visit.
The government responded to the riots on Friday with restrictions on public life, among other things. For example, trams and buses are no longer to run at night until further notice, major events have been cancelled, and the sale and transport of fireworks and flammable substances has been banned. As many of the protesters are very young, according to the government, President Emmanuel Macron appealed to parents to be responsible and blamed social media for the escalation of violence.
Protests also in overseas territories and in Brussels
There were also riots in the French overseas territories: in Cayenne, capital of South American French Guiana, a man was killed by a ricochet on Friday night (local time) in connection with the riots, according to local authorities. According to media reports, the man was an employee of the local administration.
According to a report by the France-Antilles regional portal, there was also violence in the Caribbean overseas territory of Martinique on Friday night. About 20 to 30 hooded people threw stones at police in the capital, Fort-de-France. Garbage cans were set on fire in several places.
Young people also gathered again in Brussels on Friday afternoon in response to the 17-year-old’s death. According to a police spokeswoman, they gathered in different locations after a call on social media. Meanwhile, around 50 people have been arrested pre-emptively, she said. Already on Thursday night there were clashes between young people and police in the Belgian capital.
Burned cars. YVES HERMAN
French soccer star Kylian Mbappé was concerned about the 17-year-old’s death and warned of violence. “Since this tragic event, we have witnessed the expression of popular anger, whose content we understand, but whose form we cannot approve”, refers to the communiqué, which will have been published on Friday night together with other national players. Violence does not solve problems. “The time of violence must end to make way for a time of mourning, dialogue and reconstruction,” said Mbappé.
police in custody
The unrest was sparked by the death of a young man during a police check on Tuesday. A motorcycle patrol in Nanterre, near Paris, stopped 17-year-old Nahel behind the wheel of a car. As the young man suddenly left, a deadly shot was fired from the officer’s service weapon. The incident caused consternation across the country, and France has been rocked by violent unrest ever since. The police officer responsible for Nahel’s death has been arrested. A formal manslaughter investigation was launched against him.
Many people from poor and multi-ethnic neighborhoods feel disadvantaged and neglected by the government. Complaints about police violence and racism have been piling up for a long time. The riots are reminiscent of street battles in 2005, which lasted for three weeks. At that time, two young men in Paris, fleeing the police, hid in a transformer house and died from an electric shock. President Jacques Chirac felt compelled to declare a state of emergency.