Protesters run as French police officers use tear gas in Paris on July 2, 2023, five days after a 17-year-old boy was killed by police in Nanterre, a western Paris suburb.
Ludovico Marin | Afp | fake images
Unrest in France lessened overnight as tens of thousands of police officers were deployed to cities across the country after the funeral of a teenager whose shooting by police sparked nationwide riots, he said on Sunday. the Ministry of the Interior.
The government deployed 45,000 police officers to the streets to try to control potential trouble after the funeral of Nahel, a 17-year-old boy of Algerian and Moroccan parents, who was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop Tuesday in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre.
Since then, rioters have set cars and public transport on fire and looted shops, but have also attacked town halls, police stations and schools, buildings that represent the French state.
The Home Office said 719 people were arrested on Saturday night, down from 1,311 the night before and 875 on Thursday night.
“Forty-five thousand police officers and thousands of firefighters have been mobilized to enforce order. Their action… made the night calmer,” the ministry said on its Twitter account.
The biggest flash point overnight was Marseille, where police fired tear gas and fought street battles with youths in the city center late into the night.
French police arrested 1,311 people across the country during a fourth straight night of riots over the police killing of a teenager, the Interior Ministry said on July 1, 2023.
Ludovico Marin | Afp | fake images
China, along with some Western nations, has warned its citizens to be vigilant due to the riots, which could pose a significant challenge to France in the peak summer tourism season if they escalate around central city landmarks. city.
The Chinese Consulate General filed a formal complaint with France after a bus carrying a group of Chinese tourists broke its windows on Thursday, causing minor injuries, China’s Consular Affairs Bureau said on Sunday.
Elysian Fields
In Paris, police increased security on the city’s iconic Champs-Elysees avenue after a call on social media to gather there. The street, usually packed with tourists, was abuzz with security forces carrying out random checks. Storefronts were boarded up to prevent possible damage and looting.
There were sporadic clashes in the center of Paris. Paris police said six public buildings were damaged and five officers wounded in the clashes that occurred overnight. Some 315 people were detained in the city.
In the greater Paris region, the home of the conservative mayor of L’Hay-les-Roses was ransacked and his wife and children attacked. The local prosecutor said an attempted murder investigation has been opened.
There were also riots in the Mediterranean city of Nice and the eastern city of Strasbourg.
President Emmanuel Macron postponed a state visit to Germany that was due to start on Sunday to manage the worst crisis for his leadership since “yellow vest” protests paralyzed much of France in late 2018.
For Nahel’s funeral, several hundred people lined up to enter the great mosque of Nanterre. Volunteers in yellow vests stood guard, while a few dozen passersby watched from across the street.
The police officer who, according to prosecutors, admitted having fired a lethal shot at Nahel is in pretrial detention under formal investigation for voluntary manslaughter, equivalent to being accused under Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions.
His lawyer, Laurent-Franck Lienard, said his client aimed for the driver’s leg, but was struck as the car started, causing him to shoot himself in the chest.
