Killed 17 year old
French police unions label protesters ‘pests’
Police stand amid exploding firecrackers during riots in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, France
© Aurelien Morissard/AP/DPA
Protests have been going on in France for three days after a 17-year-old was shot dead by a police officer. Many citizens criticize the police. Now the unions are firing back with brute vocabulary.
With populist slogans have two major French Called on police unions to stand in the way of protesters. “Now is not the time for industrial action, but for fighting these ‘pests’,” said a statement released Friday by unions Alliance Police Nationale and Unsa Police. According to them, police officers are “at war”.
“In the face of these wild hordes, it is no longer enough to call for calm, it must be enforced,” said the two unions, adding: “Tomorrow we will be in resistance, the government must be aware of that.” Alliance Police Nationale and Unsa Police represent around half of all police officers in France.
Violent unrest in France since the death of Nahel M.
“Police ‘unions’ calling for civil war should learn to keep their mouths shut,” wrote the head of the left-wing populist party La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, on Twitter. Politicians should “get a grip on the police again”. Marine Tondelier of the Greens wrote on Twitter of a “structural problem in the police force”. The text of the police unions is a “call for civil war”.
For three days there have been riots in many French cities, with buildings and cars being set on fire and shops being looted. Hundreds of people have already been arrested. The trigger was the death of a 17-year-old who was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday. It is the second death in police checks this year. Last year, 13 people were killed in similar situations.
17 year old killed
France is on fire: Second night of riots after deadly police shot
The UN human rights commissioner called on France “to seriously deal with the profound problems of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement”.
In view of renewed protests, the French government mobilized 45,000 police officers and gendarmes for Saturday night. In addition, several special police units are deployed, said French Interior Minister Gérald Darmain on TF1.