07/01/2023 02:57 (act. 07/01/2023 02:57)
Riots have reached terrible proportions in Marseille ©APA/AFP
Faced with the riots that have raged in France for days after a fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old, the government is using increasingly harsh means to bring the situation back under control. To avoid further violent protests, they mobilized 45,000 police and gendarmes for Saturday night. In addition, bus and tram traffic was stopped across the country at night. However, riots broke out again.
In the cities of Lyon, Marseille and Grenoble, itinerant groups looted shops on Friday night. Protesters also set cars and garbage cans on fire again. In Strasbourg, protesters attacked an Apple Store and other businesses before dark.
The mayor of Marseille has called on the French government to immediately send more police to the port city. “Scenes of looting and violence are unacceptable,” he wrote in a tweet late on Friday. Footage on social media shows an explosion at the old port of Marseille. Officials say the cause is still unclear. There were no injuries.
Security forces then sent “reinforcements” to the southern French port city, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter. According to him, more than 1,100 people have been arrested since the beginning of the riots in France, 270 of them on Friday night alone.
President Emmanuel Macron had already denounced an “unacceptable instrumentalization of the death of a young man” at a crisis meeting. About a third of those arrested are “young people, sometimes very young”. Macron appealed to parents to ensure their children do not take part in the violent protests.
The president also asked online networks like Snapchat or Tiktok to “handle responsibly” the protests. “Violent meetings” are organized on these platforms.
The gendarmerie used armored vehicles on Saturday night to control the situation. Major events have been canceled across France. On instructions from the Ministry of the Interior, the circulation of buses and trams throughout the country was interrupted from 21:00. The sale of fireworks, gasoline cans and flammable and chemical products must also be systematically prohibited. At least three municipalities near Paris, as well as several other locations, have imposed nighttime curfews.
In connection with the unrest in France, there were also riots in some French overseas territories. In Cayenne, capital of South American French Guiana, a man was killed by a ricochet on Friday night (local time), local authorities said. 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.
The protests and riots were sparked by the death of 17-year-old Nahel M.. The young man was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday. He will be buried on Saturday, according to Nanterre Mayor Patrick Jarry. An investigation has been launched against the alleged shooter. According to the Public Ministry, he is accused of “intentional homicide”.