In France, serious riots broke out in several cities for the third night in a row. More than 660 people were arrested. The government wants to discuss the situation in a crisis meeting.
After the third night in a row of massive riots in France, President Emmanuel Macron wants to meet his government for another crisis meeting. The riots in numerous French cities were triggered by a police officer’s deadly shot at a 17-year-old boy.
The crisis meeting is scheduled to begin in the morning, as reported by the French television station BFM TV, citing the Office of the President in Paris. According to the newspaper “Le Monde”, Macron will probably arrive early from Brussels, where he will take part in the last EU summit before the summer break.
“Insufferable and Inexcusable”
French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne tweeted images of a meeting with several ministers “to take stock of the night’s violence and abuses.” She called the events “intolerable and inexcusable”.
Macron had already held a crisis meeting on Thursday, as a result of which the police presence was greatly increased across the country. According to the French Interior Ministry, around 40,000 police officers were on duty last night, around 5,000 of them in Paris.
Nearly 250 police officers injured
Despite the increased security precautions, there were clashes with the police in several cities such as Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse and Lille on Friday night. 249 emergency services were injured, as Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced. However, no one suffered serious injuries.
Darmanin thanked all members of the police and gendarmerie who had once again opposed the violence “with courage” last night.
More than 660 arrests
Darmanin had already announced a “determined response from the state” to the riots on Thursday. Last night, 667 people were arrested in the course of the riots. There were 150 arrests in the clashes the previous night.
During the riots, cars were set on fire again in several cities on Friday night and barricades were erected on the streets. Shop windows were smashed in Paris. As the newspaper “Le Monde” further reported, several buses were set on fire in Aubervilliers near the capital, whereupon the operation of several lines was temporarily suspended or restricted.
As “Le Monde” reported, the President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France, Valérie Pécresse, announced emergency aid of 20 million euros. The sum was intended to eliminate the damage caused in the region, which also includes Paris, as quickly as possible. These included damaged buildings such as schools or town halls, but also trams or looted shops.
A bus was also shot at with fireworks in Grenoble. The employees of the transport company then stopped work. In the port city of Marseille, hundreds of protesters clashed with the police during the night and shops were looted. Police fired tear gas when clashes broke out with youths, reports La Provence newspaper.
Also in Brussels clashes with police
The situation in Nanterres had already escalated on Thursday evening when there were clashes with the police following a funeral march for the youth who had been shot. According to the dpa news agency, around 6,000 people took part in the funeral march. Molotov cocktails were thrown at police officers by protesters, the police monitored the situation with helicopters and called together special forces.
There were also clashes between young people and law enforcement officers in the Belgian capital, Brussels. About ten people were arrested, police said. There have been several fires.
According to the police, young people had called on social networks to gather in response to the 17-year-old’s death in France. According to the Belgian news agency Belga, there were tensions especially around the centrally located district of Anneessens.
Investigations on suspicion of manslaughter
Three days ago, a 17-year-old boy of North African descent was killed in the working-class suburb of Nanterre in Paris by a police officer’s gunshot.
A motorcycle patrol stopped the 17-year-old at the wheel of a car on Tuesday morning. When the young man suddenly drove off, the deadly shot fell from the police officer’s service weapon.
The public prosecutor’s office has initiated proceedings against the officer on suspicion of manslaughter. He was taken into custody. The use of the weapon in the control was not justified, the prosecutor said.
Police officer apologizes to family
According to his lawyer, the officer in police custody apologized to the family. “The first words” the officer said “were to apologize and the last thing he said was to apologize to the family,” the lawyer said on BFM TV.
His client saw the video for the first time in custody and was “extremely shocked by the violence of this video”. “He’s devastated. He doesn’t get up in the morning to kill people. He didn’t want to kill,” added the lawyer, announcing that he would appeal the pre-trial detention.