Riots in France continue 17 year old buried Salzburger
Riots broke out in several French cities for the fourth consecutive night. The Interior Ministry announced on Saturday that more than 1,300 people had been arrested. Because of the riots, President Emmanuel Macron canceled his planned visit to Germany. The riots were triggered by the death of a 17-year-old boy of North African descent. Nahel M. was buried on Saturday in the closest family circle in Nanterre.
The teenager, whose family is from Algeria, was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday. The family’s lawyers appealed in advance to the media to stay away from the funeral ceremonies.
According to preliminary data from the Ministry of the Interior, 1,350 vehicles were set on fire across the country during the renewed disturbances on Saturday night, 234 buildings were set on fire or damaged and 2,560 fires were set on roads. 79 police and gendarmes were injured. A total of 1,311 people were arrested, significantly more than the previous night. Overall, however, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, the violence has subsided.
The riots in Marseille were particularly violent. Many people of North African descent live in France’s second largest city. According to police, a fire broke out in a supermarket “in connection” with the disturbances. In the center of the southern French port city, young and often masked protesters hurled projectiles at police vans, and police used tear gas. Unrest also continued in Paris. According to authorities, the protesters are mobile, well-connected and often “very young”.
French authorities tightened measures again on Friday to bring the situation back under control. 45,000 police and gendarmes were mobilized, about 5,000 more than the night before.
In addition, from 21:00, buses and trams across the country were suspended and the sale of fireworks and flammable liquids was prohibited. Big events such as concerts were canceled and nighttime curfews were imposed in several places.
In the greater Paris area, bus and tram traffic is to be closed again on Saturday night and nightly Metro service is to be reduced by an hour. In Marseille, all public transport must stop after 6 pm. All protest rallies were again banned. A fan club of the football club Olympique Marseille called on all young residents of the city to restrain themselves.
Macron wants to meet with mayors about the unrest. Some local politicians had already called for a curfew and police reinforcements to deal with the violent riots. The president had to stay in France for the next few days because of the internal political situation, the Élysée Palace and the Office of the Federal President announced on Saturday. Macron spoke to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier by telephone and briefed him on the situation in his country, a spokeswoman for Steinmeier said. “President Macron has asked to postpone the planned state visit to Germany.”
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 Lyon, France’s third-largest city, police used armored vehicles and a helicopter. The mayor there, Gregory Doucet, also called for reinforcements. 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.
The outbreak of violence has plunged Macron and his government into the worst crisis since the start of the yellow vest protests in 2018. Macron has not yet ordered the imposition of a state of emergency – according to Darmanin, however, this is not ruled out. “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.
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.
A video of the murder of Nahel M. circulated on social media. The officer admitted to shooting the young man when he continued to drive the car despite being checked. His lawyer, Laurent-Franck Lienard, said his client aimed for the driver’s leg but was hit as the car started, prompting him to shoot himself in the chest. “Obviously he didn’t want to kill the driver,” Lienard told BFM television. The policeman is under arrest. The Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the suspicion of manslaughter.
Austria, Germany, Britain and the United States had already warned their citizens with travel plans in France to be careful on Friday because of the unrest and updated their safety instructions. Hotel and catering industry association president Thierry Marx reported numerous booking cancellations.
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