After three nights of unrest and the death of young Nahel in a police check near Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the Interior Ministry’s deployment of “additional resources” and denounced “the instrumentalization of this drama”.
• Also read: In the heart of Paris, traders worried after a night of unrest
• Also read: Here’s what you need to know about the riots in France
• Also read: Violence during the white march for young driver killed by police in France
As part of an interministerial crisis committee in the Ministry of the Interior, the head of state also called on “all parents to take responsibility”.
“There is an unacceptable exploitation of the death of a teenager that we all regret, although this time should be a time of meditation and respect,” the head of state declared at the end of the meeting, condemning the perpetrators of this exploitation of “pure and unjustified violence that has no legitimacy”.
The President welcomed the police’s “quick and appropriate” response and announced that the Home Office would allocate “additional resources”.
“It was decided to cancel several festive events and several gatherings in the most sensitive departments,” he continued.
The President of the Republic called on “all parents to take responsibility”.
AFP
“It is clear that the context in which we live, as we can see, is the result of sometimes organised, violent and armed groups that we condemn, that we arrest and that are brought to justice, but also the result of many young ones People.” . A third of those arrested last night are young people, sometimes very young people,” observed Mr Macron.
“It is the responsibility of parents to ensure that they stay at home. (…) The Republic should not replace them,” he continued.
He also said he expects a “spirit of responsibility” from the major social media platforms, citing Snapchat and TikTok in particular, where “violent rallies” are organized and which “also create a form of mimicking violence that leads to the youngest are prone to violence.” a form of escape from reality.”
“We sometimes feel that some of them are living on the streets with the video games that got them high,” Mr Macron said.
“Wherever it is useful and whenever it is useful, requests are made to know the identity of those who use these social networks to incite riots or aggravate violence,” he specifies.
AFP
According to the Interior Ministry’s final report, the police made 875 arrests during the night from Thursday to Friday, 408 of them in Paris and its suburbs.
AFP
A total of 249 police officers and gendarmes were injured overnight.
The close-range shot, captured in amateur video, which struck 17-year-old Nahel at a roadside stop in Nanterre, west of Paris, set many towns across the country on fire.