CNN –
Hundreds of people marched Monday in support of a French mayor whose home was attacked by a burning car, as the country entered a second week of violent protests and unrest.
A large crowd in L’Haÿ-les-Roses, a Paris suburb, showed solidarity with Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun, whose home was hit by the vehicle early Sunday morning.
The gathering came after a quieter night in the country, which has been hit by angry protests since police shot dead a 17-year-old boy during a traffic stop last Tuesday.
Jeanbrun’s address was well known in the community prior to the attack, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported. Jeanbrun previously said his wife and one of his children were injured in the incident, calling it an assassination.
Locals and officials at the march held up a banner that read, “Together for the Republic!” Jeanbrun, dressed in the sash of the French tricolor, told supporters, “I have only one word: thank you.”
“Democracy has been attacked,” he said. “More than ever, our republic and its servants are being threatened and attacked,” he added.
In an earlier statement on Sunday, the mayor said that while he was at City Hall, “individuals rammed their car into my apartment and then set it on fire, burning down my house where my wife and two young children were sleeping.”
“My wife and one of my children were injured trying to protect the children and escape from the attackers,” he said, adding that he “did not have words strong enough to express his feelings at the horror of these people.” to describe night.”
According to the French Interior Ministry, 157 people were arrested overnight to Monday morning, compared to more than 700 the night before.
Three police officers were injured, a police station attacked and 352 public roads set ablaze, but BFMTV reported that “no major incident was reported” overnight.
French President Emmanuel Macron will begin a process to “understand in depth” the cause of the unrest that has rocked France over the past week, a source present at Sunday’s meeting between Macron and his top officials told CNN.
Macron urged the ministers present to continue “doing everything we can to restore order,” the source said.
The wave of protests began after a police officer shot and killed 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk during a traffic stop. The officer responsible for the shooting was charged with first degree murder.
Merzouk’s grandmother appealed to the protesters on Sunday, telling BFMTV: “You shouldn’t damage the schools and you shouldn’t break the buses, it was the mothers who took the buses.”
“I’m tired,” said the grandmother, who BMFTV identified as Nadia, adding that Nahel’s mother “has no life left.”
The teenager’s funeral took place on Saturday at a mosque in Nanterre, the Paris suburb where he was killed.