French President Emmanuel Macron has delayed his trip to Germany, which was scheduled to begin on Sunday, due to a fourth night of rioting in cities across France. The unrest was triggered by the killing of a teenager by the police, and the burial of the young victim was taking place as Macron made the decision to postpone his visit.
Hundreds of people gathered at Nanterre’s grand mosque on Sunday for the burial of Nahel M., a 17-year-old of Algerian and Moroccan descent who was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb on Tuesday.
Despite the deployment of approximately 45,000 police officers supported by light armored vehicles, violent clashes continued on Friday night. Looting and rioting occurred in Lyon, Marseille, and Grenoble, with groups of youths pillaging shops, setting fires, and attacking officers with projectiles.
According to the French interior ministry, 1,311 people were arrested overnight, compared to 875 the previous night, although the intensity of the violence was said to be lower.
The unrest also spread to French overseas territories, where a 54-year-old person died after being hit by a stray bullet in French Guiana.
Despite government appeals for calm and strong policing measures, acts of violence persisted in several areas during daylight hours. An Apple store was looted in Strasbourg, tear gas was fired by police, and a fast food outlet’s windows were smashed in a shopping mall near Paris. In Marseille, young people engaged in violence, including hurling projectiles, setting fires, and looting shops. A gun shop was targeted, and looters escaped with weapons, leading to an arrest.
Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan called for French soldiers to be sent as reinforcements, stating that the scenes of looting and violence were unacceptable.
While the situation seemed calmer in Paris, authorities in Lyon reported fires being set and police being targeted by rioters in the suburbs. In the city center, police made 31 arrests to prevent the looting of shops following an unauthorized protest against police violence that attracted around 1,300 participants on Friday evening.
In French Guiana, a 54-year-old person was killed by a stray bullet on Thursday night when rioters fired at police in the capital city of Cayenne.
On the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, protesters set rubbish bins on fire, threw projectiles at police, and damaged cars and buildings. Approximately 150 police officers were deployed there on Friday night.
The fatal shooting of the teenager, captured on video, has shocked France and reignited long-standing tensions between the police, young people living in housing projects and disadvantaged neighborhoods, and issues of racism within French society.
President Macron, who rushed back from a European Union summit to chair a crisis meeting, denounced the exploitation of the adolescent’s death in some quarters but did not declare a state of emergency. He called on parents to take responsibility for the underage rioters, one-third of whom were described as young or very young.
Macron also promised to collaborate with social media platforms to address the spread of “copycat violence” through services like TikTok and Snapchat. He expressed his expectation that tech companies would show a spirit of responsibility and announced that procedures would be established for the removal of sensitive content.
The French interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, has called for an end to the protests, emphasizing that the police officer responsible for the shooting has been taken into custody, put under formal investigation, and is currently in jail. Darmanin stated that while the officer’s actions are unjustifiable, they do not justify the ongoing unrest, and the judicial process should be respected.
The funeral of Nahel M. could potentially provide an opportunity to de-escalate tensions, although it is not guaranteed. The family’s lawyers have requested that journalists refrain from attending, describing it as a day of reflection for the relatives.
Nahel’s mother, Mounia, appeared on France 5 television and expressed that she does not blame the police as a whole but rather holds the specific officer accountable for taking her son’s life. She claimed that the officer saw an Arab face, a young child, and wanted to end his life.
The United Nations human rights office released a statement on Friday, stating that the killing of the teenager of North African descent presents an opportunity for France to address the deep-rooted issues of racism and racial discrimination within law enforcement. The French foreign ministry dismissed these allegations as entirely unfounded.
