PARIS, France – The grandmother of a French teen whose deadly police shooting sparked nights of unrest appealed for calm on Sunday as a burning car attacked the mayor’s home in a Paris suburb in a new wave of violence. it was done. ,
President Emmanuel Macron’s government has been battling five nights of violent protests since 17-year-old Nahel M. was shot dead by an officer during a traffic check in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday.
The killing of Nahel M., who was of Algerian descent, has revived long-standing allegations of institutional racism within the French police, which rights groups say alienated minorities during the crackdown goes.
Seeking to mount one of the biggest challenges to Macron since taking office in 2017, the interior ministry has deployed 45,000 police and gendarmes as well as helicopters and armored vehicles across the country over the past two nights.
The interior ministry said 719 people were arrested overnight, almost half the number from the previous night, but there were still reports of intense clashes in several places, including in the southern city of Marseille, but calm elsewhere.
“Stop and don’t riot,” Nahel’s grandmother Nadia told BFM television in a telephone interview, adding that the rioters were only using her death as an “excuse”.
Firefighters using a water hose on a burnt-out bus in Nanterre, outside Paris, France, on July 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Joly)
“I say to the people who are rioting: don’t break windows, don’t attack schools or buses. stop! It’s the moms who are taking the bus, it’s the moms who are walking out,” she said.
fear and humiliation
Prosecutors said the politicians condemned the attack on the home of right-wing mayor Vincent Jeanbrun of L’Hay-les-Roses outside Paris, in which attackers drove a burning car into his home with the aim of setting it on fire.
Jeanbrunn’s wife and children, ages 5 and 7, were at home while the mayor himself was at the town hall to deal with the riots. Prosecutors said the wife was “badly injured” and had a broken leg.
Prosecutors have launched an investigation into attempted murder. “Last night, the terror and outrage reached a whole new level,” the mayor said in a statement.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told reporters while visiting L’Hay-les-Roses, “The overall situation was very calm”.
“But the kind of act we saw here this morning is particularly shocking. “We will not allow any violence to go unpunished,” he said, urging that the perpetrators be punished “with the utmost severity.”
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, right, and French Ecological Transition and Regional Cohesion Minister Christophe Bechu, center, meet with L’He-les-Roses mayor Vincent Jeanbrun, left, after riots ransacked them. On July 2, 2023, a vehicle came to his house overnight at the City Hall of L’He-les-Roses. (Charlie Tribleau/Pool Photo via AP)
Around 7,000 police were deployed in Paris and its suburbs alone, including along the Champs Elysees avenue in the capital, which is a tourist hotspot, following calls on social media to move the riots to the city centre.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the heavy police presence helped keep the violence under control.
“A peaceful night thanks to the determined action by the security forces,” he tweeted in the early hours of Sunday.
But Paris police chief Laurent Nunez warned on BFM television that “no one is declaring victory.”
In Marseille, which has seen intense clashes and looting, police on Saturday evening dispersed groups of youths on Canebière, a main thoroughfare that runs through the city centre, AFP reporters said.
new crisis meeting
The protests present a new crisis for Macron, who had been hoping to push through on his pledges for a second term after months of protests in January over raising the retirement age.
He postponed a state visit to Germany that was due to start on Sunday, signaling the seriousness of the situation in France.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told broadcaster ARD, “We are certainly watching (the riots) with concern, and I have great hope, and I am certainly convinced, that the French president will find ways to make sure that May this situation improve soon.”
According to Elysee, Macron will lead a crisis meeting on Sunday with members of his government.
Buses and trams have stopped running after 9:00 pm in France and the sale of large firecrackers and flammable liquids has been banned in order to limit the violence. Marseille has closed all urban transport from 6:00 p.m.
Protesters block a road with garbage cans in Columbus, outside Paris, France, on July 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Joly)
Macron has urged parents to take responsibility for the underage rioters, a third of whom were “young or very young”.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said on Saturday that 30 percent of those arrested were minors, while Darmanin said the average age of those arrested was just 17.
The unrest has raised concerns abroad, with France hosting the Rugby World Cup in the autumn and the Paris Olympic Games in the summer of 2024.
Culture and entertainment have been disrupted, with singer Mylène Farmer canceling stadium concerts and French fashion house Celine canceling its Paris menswear show.
The 38-year-old policeman has been charged with voluntary manslaughter over Nahel’s death and has been remanded in custody.
