What Ignited Assaults on Police Stations, Arson & Calls for ‘Vengeance’ in France?
12:35 GMT 30.06.2023 (Updated: 13:50 GMT 30.06.2023)
© AFP 2023 / ALAIN JOCARD
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Clashes flared up between protesters and police in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre after a teenager was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic check on Tuesday morning. It was later determined the officer had failed to meet the necessary requirements to justify the use of his weapon.
France has convulsed in a third consecutive night of protests following the police shooting of a teenager in a Paris suburb. Police, gendarmes and firefighters "courageously faced rare violence," said French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, making 667 arrests. Local authorities imposed a nighttime curfew in four regions: Clamart commune, Neuilly-sur-Marne, Savigny-le-Temple, and Compiegne. An estimated 40,000 law enforcement officers have been deployed across the nation, with at least 5,000 in Paris and its inner suburbs. Furthermore, riots are reported to have spilled over to Brussels, Belgium.
Sputnik takes a closer look at what is happening in France, and what triggered the violence.
Third Night of Riots
France has witnessed its third night of protests triggered by the police shooting of a 17-year-old in Nanterre, a suburb west of Paris, on June 27.
Large crowds gathered on Thursday afternoon at a vigil march organized by the teenager’s family in Nanterre. The youth's mother, wearing a white T-shirt reading “Justice for Nahel,” was also present.
Mounia (C), the mother of Nahel, a teenage driver shot dead by a policeman, sits atop a truck as a protester holds a placard reading "The police kills, justice for Nahel" during a commemoration march for her son, in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre, on June 29, 2023.
© AFP 2023 / BERTRAND GUAY
However, the vigil quickly spiralled into violence echoing that of the preceding days.
In Nanterre, where Nahel M. was shot dead, streets were barricaded, cars torched, and projectiles hurled at police following a peaceful vigil. "Vengeance for Nahel" was spray painted across buildings, and a bank was set on fire, with firefighters rushing to put it out.
The participants of a protest march in memory of the teenager shot by the French police tried to break through to the prefecture building of the city of Nanterre, prompting the police to use tear gas, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Thursday.
As unrest swept major cities, including Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille, and Lille, around 40,000 police officers were deployed in an attempt to keep the violence in check.
A Nike shoe store was broken into in central Paris, and store windows were smashed along Rue de Rivoli shopping street, according to Paris police. Fires, fireworks, and other incidents were witnessed in Marseille, where police resorted to tear gas grenades during clashes with youths in Le Vieux Port, La Provence reported. A library was vandalized in the city center of Marseille.
Unrest gripped Toulouse, Lille, Lyon, and Pau as well, with videos on social media showing numerous fires across the country.
Special units of the French national police — the GIGN (National Gendarmerie Intervention Group), RAID (Research, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence), and BRI (Research and Intervention Brigade) — were sent to the French city of Nanterre, a French newspaper reported on Thursday, citing security sources.
Police officers detain a protester during clashes after a commemoration march for a teenage driver shot dead by a policeman, in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre, on June 29, 2023.
© AFP 2023 / ZAKARIA ABDELKAFI
249 police officers and gendarmes were injured on Thursday night amid protests that erupted for the third consecutive night in France, the Interior Ministry announced.
Why Are People Protesting in France?
Violent unrest erupted in Nanterre, France, following the shooting of a 17-year-old driver by a police officer during a routine traffic check on Tuesday morning. The teen reportedly refused to comply with police instructions during the traffic stop. According to news media, the young man, identified only as Nahel M., was driving a rental car without a license and broke several traffic rules. According to the prosecutor in Nanterre, Nahel had been driving in a bus lane and, when officers attempted to stop him, ran a red light to get away, but got stuck in traffic. It was at that point that the police motorcyclists approached the car the teen was in. Since the incident happened, a screengrab of footage from the shooting has been circulating on social media. It appears to show the officer who fired the fatal shot as the car was driving away.
Twitter screenshot
© @Ohana_Fgn/Twitter
The autopsy showed that the teenager died from a single shot by the officer, that went through his left arm and chest. The prosecutor stated that no drugs or other illegal substances were detected during the search of his car. The police officer who shot the teenager has been placed in pre-trial detention, with a criminal case of intentional homicide opened against him. "Investigators concluded that the legal conditions for the usage of firearms had not been observed," the Nanterre prosecutor said at a press conference.
However, there were also other diverging accounts of the incident involving the teenager, whose family is reportedly of Algerian origin. Some anonymous police sources were cited as claiming the teenager, who did not have a criminal record but was known to police, drove into the two officers at the scene. According to reports, Nahel had previously been the subject of five police checks since 2021, and after yet another "refus d'obtempérer" (tr. "refusal to cooperate"), was due to appear before a juvenile court in September. The shooting incident sparked widespread protests marked by acts of violence, with many in the crowds saying that "police violence happens every day, especially if you're Arab or black." The riots were accompanied by arson, attacks on police stations and town halls. Footage of the unrest has flooded the Internet.
The shot teenager, Nahel, is believed to be the second person this year in France to have been killed in a police shooting during a traffic stop, with around 13 people dying similarly in 2022, according to media reports. The incident on Tuesday triggered widespread accusations of police brutality.
Emmanuel Macron’s Reaction
French President Emmanuel Macron labeled the violence in the country following the killing of the teenager by the police "unjustifiable" and called for calm, French media reported on Thursday.
"The turmoil following the death of a young man requires calm and composure... The last hours have been marked by scenes of violence against police stations, schools, city halls - in fact, against institutions and the republic. And it is totally unjustifiable," Macron said during a meeting of an inter-ministerial crisis group which he convened because of the unrest.
Screenshot of Twitter post by French President Emmanuel Macron.
© Photo : Twitter
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced on Friday that she had gathered ministers to discuss the "unbearable and inexcusable" rioting ahead of an emergency afternoon meeting called by Emmanuel Macron.
La gendarmerie mobilise tous ses moyens, au sol et dans les airs, de jour comme de nuit, pour maintenir l'ordre public et prévenir les troubles.@Interieur_Gouv pic.twitter.com/giqCjjnwtD
— Gendarmerie nationale (@Gendarmerie) June 29, 2023
France Outraged
The death of the teen prompted many politicians and public figures across France to speak out.
Left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has often gone on record as lashing out against what he calls police brutality, wrote that, "The death penalty no longer exists in France. No policeman has the right to kill except in self-defense." He also suggested the police should be "entirely refounded."
Nanterre Mayor Patrick Jarry described what had happened of late as some of the “worst days in history” for his neighborhood. He added: “The youth think they have to vindicate the death of Nahel… I call on everyone: Stop this destructive spiral.”
"A refusal to stop doesn't give you a license to kill. All the children of the Republic have a right to justice," said Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure.
Paris Saint-Germain football star Kylian Mbappe has also spoken out after the fatal police shooting of the teen. The captain of the French national team went on Twitter to say, "I feel bad for my France,” describing what happened as an "unacceptable situation."
Screenshot of Twitter post by Paris Saint-Germain football star Kylian Mbappe.
© Photo : Twitter
AC Milan football player Mike Maignan, another French international player, tweeted that violence at the hands of the police is experienced by “always the same people.”
“A bullet in the head … It’s always for the same people that being in the wrong leads to death,” he wrote.
Screenshot of Twitter post by AC Milan football player Mike Maignan.
© Photo : Twitter
Paul Golding, a British right-wing political leader who is currently the leader of Britain First, tweeted that the riots in France had spread to Belgium.
The riots in France have spread to Belgium. How soon before the Netherlands and Germany follow suit? pic.twitter.com/67TolwtSoC
— Paul Golding (@GoldingBF) June 29, 2023
The protests currently show no sign of abating, but French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has rejected calls to declare a state of emergency in some areas of France.
29 June 2023, 01:03 GMT
