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Parents are being asked by President Emmanuel Macron to keep their teenagers at home. After rioters set fire to cars, buildings, and stores across France in a third night of unrest following the police shooting of a teenager during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb, his government is exploring "all options" to restore calm.
Up until Friday, there had been more than 800 arrests made nationwide, and according to Mr. Macron, a sizable number of those were you, the people. Through the night, police and firefighters battled to put out multiple fires that destroyed schools, police stations, town halls, and other public facilities while also trying to corral demonstrators. Looting was also recorded in a few places, including Paris's center.
Authorities also reported fires or skirmishes in other cities overnight, from Lille in the north to Toulouse in the south, but Nanterre and the surrounding areas remained the focal point.
Elisabeth Borne, the French prime minister, described the violence as "intolerable and inexcusable" in a tweet and stated that the French government is studying "all options" for reestablishing calm.
She subsequently told reporters during a visit to a suburb of Paris, "The priority is to ensure national unity and the way to do it is to restore order."
What took place throughout the shooting?
On Tuesday morning, Nahel M, a 17-year-old, was operating a vehicle when he was stopped for violating traffic laws, according to the prosecution. The young person lacked the legal driving age in France.
According to the police's original report, the teenager was driving his automobile toward the officer when one of the officers opened fire. A video that went viral on social media instantly refuted this account of what happened.
The Nanterre prosecutor stated on Thursday that a timeline of events from Tuesday morning was being pieced together using witness testimony, CCTV camera evidence, amateur video footage, and statements from police officers.
Pascal Prache stated that at 7:55 a.m. on Tuesday, two motorcycle police observed a Mercedes with a teenage driver and two passengers moving swiftly through a bus lane.
Police gave the car two signals to stop and park, but the driver kept going, so the two officers pursued the car.
The cops requested the driver to turn off the engine and exit the Mercedes after it came to a stop at a stop sign.
Unrest After a Teenager's Death by Police
The police officers said that in order to prevent the driver from escaping in the car, they pulled their weapons and pointed them at him. The police then made the decision to open fire as the motorist started to pull away.
The automobile crashed after the driver was shot in the arm and chest. One of the travelers took off. At 8:21 am, firefighters were requested to the scene. The driver received first aid, but it didn't work.
According to Mr. Prache, the officer who fired the single shot claimed that he did so to stop the car from driving away and out of concern that he or another cop may be struck by the vehicle.
For shooting Nahel, the police officer is currently charged with voluntary homicide.
According to the prosecutor Mr. Prache, after conducting a preliminary inquiry, he came to the conclusion that "the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met."
How did the unrest start?
Nahel was a native of North Africa. The event has fueled ongoing protests from rights groups and the racially diverse suburbs around France's major cities about police brutality and systematic racism within law enforcement.
Demands for more accountability have arisen as a result of several incidents involving deaths or injuries caused by French police in recent years. In response to the Minnesota police death of George Floyd, there were demonstrations against racial profiling and other forms of injustice in France as well.
The fatal shooting on Tuesday was the third such incident in France so far in 2023. According to a national police spokesperson, there were a record 13 similar shootings in the previous year.
According to a Reuters count, there were three similar murders in 2021 and two in 2020, and the majority of the victims since 2017 have been Black or of Arab descent.
Tuesday night saw the beginning of clashes in and around Nanterre, a suburb of Paris where Nahel was killed. Some protestors tossed pyrotechnics at the police and lit up bins. On the crowds, police officers sprayed tear gas. On Wednesday, the administration sent out 2,000 police officers to keep the peace. But once night fell, the mayhem returned. On Thursday, over 40,000 police officers were deployed throughout France, although
How far-reaching are the riots?
According to a national police spokeswoman, officers and firefighters worked through the night to put out many fires that destroyed schools, police stations, town halls, and other public buildings.
From Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north, the national police have recorded fires or clashes; nonetheless, the hub of tensions was Nanterre and other Paris districts.
Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister, reported that the violence on Thursday night had injured more than 200 police personnel. He added that the fire department and the police responded to more than 6,000 fires and that more than 500 buildings had been damaged.
The turmoil has brought back memories of the riots in 2005, which shook France for three weeks and prompted Jacques Chirac, the president at the time, to proclaim a state of emergency.
Following the deaths of two young people who were electrocuted in a power substation as they hid from police, a wave of violence broke out in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois and spread throughout the nation.
Ten years later, two officers were tried and found not guilty.
What has the government's response been?
The second shooting in two days prompted President Emmanuel Macron to convene a crisis meeting with senior officials on Friday morning.
The French government has so far refrained from proclaiming a state of emergency, which was used to put an end to weeks of riots across France in 2005 after two youths died accidentally while evading the police.
Before Friday evening's sundown, all public bus and tram services must be completely suspended, according to Mr. Darmanin, who was citing instructions from the Interior Ministry.
According to the government, Darmanin gave orders to regional prefects under his control to end bus and tram service across France at 9 p.m. local time before it gets dark. A similar shutdown was already planned for the Paris region in order to safeguard both drivers and passengers. Mylene Farmer's scheduled Friday and Saturday night performances at the Stade de France have also been postponed.
Authorities in Marseille, France's second-largest city in the south, ordered restaurants to close outdoor dining areas early and forbade the planned public rallies on Friday. All public transport would end at 7 p.m., they stated.
