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Over 600 Arrested in France After Another Night of Unrest Keep Teenagers Home, Macron Urges Parents After New Night of Unrest
(about 2 hours later)
More than 600 people were arrested in France in a third night of unrest that has rocked cities around the country since a police officer fatally shot a 17-year-old driver this week, the authorities said on Friday, with decades-long complaints about police violence and persistent feelings of neglect and racial discrimination in France’s poorer urban suburbs adding fuel to the protests. President Emmanuel Macron of France urgently appealed to parents on Friday after a third night of unrest over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old, with French officials saying that the protests were driven mostly by angry young people who had coordinated and copied one another on social media.
President Emmanuel Macron, who was at a European Union summit in Brussels, took the rare step of leaving before the end to attend a crisis meeting in Paris. It was his second this week as the government struggles to contain the anger unleashed by the killing, which took place during a traffic stop in Nanterre, west of Paris, on Tuesday. Mr. Macron’s government is struggling to contain the rage unleashed by the killing, in which a police officer fatally shot a teenage driver during a traffic stop in Nanterre, west of Paris, on Tuesday. Anger over the shooting tapped into decades-long complaints about police violence and persistent feelings of neglect and racial discrimination in France’s poorer urban suburbs.
The officer who fired the shot has been placed under formal investigation on charges of voluntary homicide and detained — a rare step in criminal cases involving police officers. But the swift charges against the officer appeared to have done little to calm tensions, with many of the protesters identifying with the teenager, a French citizen of North African descent who has been publicly identified only as Nahel M. Speaking at the end of a crisis cabinet meeting in Paris — the second this week — Mr. Macron called the violence “unjustifiable” and said it had “no legitimacy whatsoever.”
Overnight, protesters burned cars, damaged public buildings, looted stores and clashed with riot police officers in Nanterre and dozens of cities around France. Over 800 people were arrested overnight after protesters burned 2,000 cars, damaged nearly 500 buildings, looted stores and clashed with riot police officers in Nanterre and dozens of cities around France, according to the Interior Ministry. Nearly 250 officers were injured, none of them seriously, the ministry said.
A school was set ablaze in the northern city of Lille, protesters set trash cans on fire and destroyed bus shelters in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, and police officers were targeted with fireworks in the suburbs of Lyon. In Nantes, protesters rammed a supermarket with a car. A handful of stores were also vandalized and looted in Paris itself, which had previously experienced little unrest over the shooting. “There is an unacceptable manipulation of a teenager’s death,” said Mr. Macron, who had taken the rare step of leaving early from a European Union summit in Brussels to attend the crisis meeting.
A third of those arrested overnight were “young, sometimes very young,” Mr. Macron said. “It is the parents’ responsibility to keep them at home.”
The officer who fired the shot has been placed under formal investigation on charges of voluntary homicide and detained — a rare step in criminal cases involving police officers.
But the swift charges against the officer and the government’s expression of support for the teenager’s family have done little to calm tensions. Many of the protesters identify with the victim, a French citizen of North African descent who has been publicly identified only as Nahel M.
The charge under which the officer is being investigated is punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Yet although the initial charge and detention of the officer who fired the fatal shot were swift, a quick legal outcome is unlikely.The charge under which the officer is being investigated is punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Yet although the initial charge and detention of the officer who fired the fatal shot were swift, a quick legal outcome is unlikely.
In France, defendants in the most serious criminal cases can be kept in pretrial detention for up to three years. But they can appeal their detention or be granted conditional release, and it is unclear how long the officer who fired the shot, who has not been identified, will remain in custody. Police unions have argued that he is not a flight risk. In France, defendants in the most serious criminal cases can be kept in pretrial detention for up to three years. They can appeal their detention or be granted conditional release, however, and it is unclear how long the officer who fired the shot, who has not been identified, will remain in custody. Police unions have argued that he is not a flight risk.
Complex criminal cases in France are handled by special magistrates with broad investigative powers, who place defendants under formal investigation when they believe the evidence points to serious wrongdoing. But the magistrates can later change the charges, or even drop them, if they do not believe the evidence is sufficient to proceed to trial. Complex criminal cases in France are handled by special magistrates with broad investigative powers, who place defendants under formal investigation when they believe the evidence points to serious wrongdoing. But the magistrates can later change the charges, or even drop them, if they do not believe they have sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.
That leaves open the possibility of an extended period of violent protests, including over the weekend. Patrick Jarry, the mayor of Nanterre, said that Nahel M.’s funeral would be held on Saturday.That leaves open the possibility of an extended period of violent protests, including over the weekend. Patrick Jarry, the mayor of Nanterre, said that Nahel M.’s funeral would be held on Saturday.
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne called the violence “intolerable and inexcusable.” On Friday, she met in Évry-Courcouronnes, a suburb south of Paris, with police officers, who told her how they had struggled to counter the sporadic and unpredictable unrest that was often organized on social media by small, highly mobile groups of young people. On Thursday night, a school was set ablaze in the northern city of Lille, protesters set trash cans on fire and destroyed bus shelters in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, and police officers were targeted with fireworks in the suburbs of Lyon. In Nantes, protesters rammed a supermarket with a car. A handful of stores were also vandalized and looted in Paris itself, which had previously experienced little unrest over the shooting.
Asked whether the government was considering declaring a state of emergency in some areas, Ms. Borne said: “We are examining all options.” In many cities, young people threw firecrackers or shot fireworks at riot police officers, who responded with tear gas.
The government had previously indicated that it wanted to avoid using the measure, which allows the state authorities to impose curfews, ban demonstrations and put people under house arrest with little judicial oversight. Mr. Macron said on Friday that social networks had played a “considerable role” in helping protesters organize quickly, and in facilitating a “mimicry of violence” among young people that led to “a kind of escape from reality.”
Looming large is the memory of 2005, when the government declared a state of emergency to quell weeks of violent riots that followed the death of two teenagers who were fleeing the police in Clichy-sous-Bois, an impoverished northeastern suburb of Paris. He said the government would work with platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat to take down “sensitive” content and to identify users who were “calling for or exacerbating violence.”
This week, the French authorities have ramped up the deployment of security forces, using helicopters and elite police units in some places to better track and contain the unrest. In Évry-Courcouronnes, a suburb south of Paris, police officers told Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne in front of television cameras that they had struggled to counter the sporadic and unpredictable unrest, which often involved small, highly mobile groups.
Gérald Darmanin, the interior minister, had instructed the police to stop any violence as quickly as possible. He also deployed over 40,000 security personnel across the country on Thursday evening, more than four times the number deployed the previous night. Asked whether the government was considering declaring a state of emergency in some areas, Ms. Borne said: “We are examining all options.” But Mr. Macron made no mention of that possibility after the crisis meeting.
Mr. Darmanin said on Twitter on Friday that “in line with my instructions to act firmly,” the police had made 667 arrests across France. Nearly 250 officers were injured, none of them seriously, according to the interior ministry. The government had previously indicated that it wanted to avoid using emergency declarations, which would allow the state authorities to impose curfews, ban demonstrations and put people under house arrest with little judicial oversight.
Looming large is the memory of 2005, when the government declared a state of emergency to quell weeks of violent riots after the death of two teenagers fleeing the police in Clichy-sous-Bois, an impoverished northeastern suburb of Paris.
This week, the French authorities have ramped up the deployment of security forces, using helicopters and elite police units in some places to better track and contain the unrest, and Mr. Macron said on Friday that the government would deploy new security measures for an expected fourth night of unrest.
On Thursday evening, Gérald Darmanin, the interior minister, had instructed the police to stop any violence as quickly as possible. He also deployed over 40,000 security personnel across the country, more than four times the number deployed the previous night.
Some of the worst violence was concentrated in the Paris region.Some of the worst violence was concentrated in the Paris region.
In Montreuil, an eastern suburb of the French capital, protesters smashed the windows of businesses and looted them. In Aubervilliers, a northern suburb, charred metal carcasses were all that remained of a dozen buses after protesters broke into a depot and set them on fire.In Montreuil, an eastern suburb of the French capital, protesters smashed the windows of businesses and looted them. In Aubervilliers, a northern suburb, charred metal carcasses were all that remained of a dozen buses after protesters broke into a depot and set them on fire.
Clément Beaune, the transportation minister, condemned the violence, telling reporters at the scene that it “offers no solution.” Olivier Klein, the housing minister, who was mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois for over a decade, appealed for calm but also said it was important to address underlying social ills — like decrepit housing blocks and racial discrimination — that were fueling the anger.
“It only adds injustice to injustice and anger to anger,” he said. “There is this persistent resentment with a certain number of young people who feel forgotten,” he told BFMTV, a national station, on Friday.
Many of the protesters were young, the authorities said. “Very often these are teenagers,” Olivier Klein, the housing minister, told BFMTV, a national station, on Friday.
Mr. Klein, who was mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois for over a decade, appealed for calm but also said it was important to address underlying social ills — like decrepit housing blocks and racial discrimination — that are fueling the anger.
“There is this persistent resentment with a certain number of young people who feel forgotten,” he said.
In an interview with France 5 television on Thursday, Nahel M.’s mother said she had been told that her son was dead when she arrived at the hospital to which he had been taken.In an interview with France 5 television on Thursday, Nahel M.’s mother said she had been told that her son was dead when she arrived at the hospital to which he had been taken.
“I scream and I fall,” she said, tears in her eyes.“I scream and I fall,” she said, tears in her eyes.
“I’m not angry at the police,” she added, though she called for a stiff sentence for the officer who fired the fatal shot. “I’m angry at a person — the one who took my son’s life.”“I’m not angry at the police,” she added, though she called for a stiff sentence for the officer who fired the fatal shot. “I’m angry at a person — the one who took my son’s life.”