France hit by second night of rioting as anger grows over police shooting
A second night of rioting saw cars and buildings including schools and police stations set alight in towns and suburbs across France after a teenage boy was shot and killed by police.
Security forces arrested 150 people after rioting spread around the country, following the death of a 17-year-old boy at the hands of police in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday.
The police officer remains in custody and on Thursday morning the prosecutor said that the use of his firearm "was not legally justified".
The prosecutor, Pascal Prache, also said that the policeman was being taken before a magistrate on Thursday with a view to charging him with homicide, and added he was demanding the officer continue to remain in custody.
Paris suburbs again saw the majority of the violence on Wednesday night, but there were also clashes in Lille, Toulouse, Dijon, Lyon, Paris, Amiens, Saint-Etienne, Clermont-Ferrand and Strasbourg.
Some 40,000 police will be deployed across France on Thursday to deal with any further protests, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. Around 5,000 police will be deployed in and around Paris specifically.
[ 🇫🇷 FRANCE ]
🔸 Commissariat de Bagnolet, dans le 93. pic.twitter.com/lbHnCgTxXY
— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank) June 29, 2023
The trouble first erupted on Tuesday night after a teenager named as Nahel M was shot and killed by police during a traffic stop - video shared on social media shows the officer pointing his gun through the window of the stationary car and shooting the teenager at point blank range.
Hear the team at The Local discussing the riots and the wider problems of policing in France in the latest episode of Talking France. Download the podcast here or listen on the link below
On Wednesday Nanterre once again saw violent clashes, but in many other Paris suburbs rioters set fire to town halls and police stations, threw fireworks and missiles at police and in one suburb set fire to a tram.
Les déchets allumés sur la rue Walwein continuent à se consumer. Motos et trottinettes tentent malgré tout de se frayer un chemin. pic.twitter.com/6tDDIeTZSd
— Alban Barthélemy (@AlbanBty) June 28, 2023
Some also tried to get into the prison at Fresnes, on the outskirts of Paris, and free prisoners.
🚨🇫🇷URGENT - Des individus seraient en train de pénétrer dans la maison d'arrêt de #Fresnes et tentent de libérer les personnes enfermées. (témoins) pic.twitter.com/sYjLcuxACc
— AlertesInfos (@AlertesInfos) June 29, 2023
Similar scenes were reported in several other French cities, with police making 150 arrests and reporting dozens of injuries.
In the town of Tourcoing in north-east France a school was set on fire and partially destroyed while a primary school in the the Paris suburb of Bezons also burned.
In the working-class 18th and 19th arrondissements of northeastern Paris, police fired flashballs to disperse protesters burning rubbish, but instead of leaving, the crowd responded by throwing bottles.
"We are sick of being treated like this. This is for Nahel, we are Nahel," said two young men calling themselves "Avengers" as they wheeled rubbish bins from a nearby estate to add to a burning barricade.
One said his family had lived in France for three generations but "they are never going to accept us".
In the Essonne region south of the capital, a group set a bus on fire after forcing all the passengers off, police said, while in Clamart a tram was set on fire.
In the southern city of Toulouse, several cars were torched and responding police and firefighters pelted with projectiles, a police source said, while authorities reported similar scenes in Dijon and Lyon.
At France's second-largest prison complex, Fresnes, protesters attacked security at the entrance with fireworks, a police source told AFP.
"They did not enter the prison grounds. The police were quickly called in," the source added.
Emmanuel Macron - who described the killing of Nahel M as "inexplicable and inexcusable" has called an emergency meeting for members of the cabinet on Thursday morning.
The mother of Nahel M has called for a vigil to be held at the préfecture in Nanterre on Thursday at 2pm.
The police officer involved in the shooting has been charged with manslaughter and on Thursday the prosecutor announced that he will remain in custody.
OPINION Paris violence could spiral into the type of nationwide riots seen in 2005
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Security forces arrested 150 people after rioting spread around the country, following the death of a 17-year-old boy at the hands of police in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday.
The police officer remains in custody and on Thursday morning the prosecutor said that the use of his firearm "was not legally justified".
The prosecutor, Pascal Prache, also said that the policeman was being taken before a magistrate on Thursday with a view to charging him with homicide, and added he was demanding the officer continue to remain in custody.
Paris suburbs again saw the majority of the violence on Wednesday night, but there were also clashes in Lille, Toulouse, Dijon, Lyon, Paris, Amiens, Saint-Etienne, Clermont-Ferrand and Strasbourg.
Some 40,000 police will be deployed across France on Thursday to deal with any further protests, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. Around 5,000 police will be deployed in and around Paris specifically.
[ 🇫🇷 FRANCE ]
— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank) June 29, 2023
🔸 Commissariat de Bagnolet, dans le 93. pic.twitter.com/lbHnCgTxXY
The trouble first erupted on Tuesday night after a teenager named as Nahel M was shot and killed by police during a traffic stop - video shared on social media shows the officer pointing his gun through the window of the stationary car and shooting the teenager at point blank range.
Hear the team at The Local discussing the riots and the wider problems of policing in France in the latest episode of Talking France. Download the podcast here or listen on the link below
On Wednesday Nanterre once again saw violent clashes, but in many other Paris suburbs rioters set fire to town halls and police stations, threw fireworks and missiles at police and in one suburb set fire to a tram.
Les déchets allumés sur la rue Walwein continuent à se consumer. Motos et trottinettes tentent malgré tout de se frayer un chemin. pic.twitter.com/6tDDIeTZSd
— Alban Barthélemy (@AlbanBty) June 28, 2023
Some also tried to get into the prison at Fresnes, on the outskirts of Paris, and free prisoners.
🚨🇫🇷URGENT - Des individus seraient en train de pénétrer dans la maison d'arrêt de #Fresnes et tentent de libérer les personnes enfermées. (témoins) pic.twitter.com/sYjLcuxACc
— AlertesInfos (@AlertesInfos) June 29, 2023
Similar scenes were reported in several other French cities, with police making 150 arrests and reporting dozens of injuries.
In the town of Tourcoing in north-east France a school was set on fire and partially destroyed while a primary school in the the Paris suburb of Bezons also burned.
In the working-class 18th and 19th arrondissements of northeastern Paris, police fired flashballs to disperse protesters burning rubbish, but instead of leaving, the crowd responded by throwing bottles.
"We are sick of being treated like this. This is for Nahel, we are Nahel," said two young men calling themselves "Avengers" as they wheeled rubbish bins from a nearby estate to add to a burning barricade.
One said his family had lived in France for three generations but "they are never going to accept us".
In the Essonne region south of the capital, a group set a bus on fire after forcing all the passengers off, police said, while in Clamart a tram was set on fire.
In the southern city of Toulouse, several cars were torched and responding police and firefighters pelted with projectiles, a police source said, while authorities reported similar scenes in Dijon and Lyon.
At France's second-largest prison complex, Fresnes, protesters attacked security at the entrance with fireworks, a police source told AFP.
"They did not enter the prison grounds. The police were quickly called in," the source added.
Emmanuel Macron - who described the killing of Nahel M as "inexplicable and inexcusable" has called an emergency meeting for members of the cabinet on Thursday morning.
The mother of Nahel M has called for a vigil to be held at the préfecture in Nanterre on Thursday at 2pm.
The police officer involved in the shooting has been charged with manslaughter and on Thursday the prosecutor announced that he will remain in custody.
OPINION Paris violence could spiral into the type of nationwide riots seen in 2005
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