Violence has flared in Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse and Lille as well as parts of Paris, including the working class suburb of Nanterre, where 17-year-old Nahel M. – who was of Algerian and Moroccan descent – was shot dead on Tuesday.
His death, caught on video at a traffic stop, has ignited longstanding resentment among poor, racially mixed, urban communities over incidents of police violence and allegations of systemic racism within law enforcement.
Here are the latest developments:
France to halt bus, tram traffic on Friday night
France asked all local authorities to halt public transport early on Friday evening in a desperate attempt to restore order after rioters torched buildings and cars. The government would consider “all options” for restoring order, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told reporters. She called the violence “intolerable and inexcusable” in a tweet.
France says police to use armoured vehicles against riots
French police will use armoured vehicles to suppress riots, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Friday, after three nights of violence. “Additional mobile forces” would be deployed along with the vehicles belonging to France’s gendarmerie, Borne said, also announcing the cancellation of “large-scale events binding personnel and potentially posing risks to public order”.
France rejects UN accusation of police ‘racism’
The French government said Friday it rejected UN accusations of racism among its police. “Any accusation of racism or systemic discrimination in the police force in France is totally unfounded,” the foreign ministry said.
875 arrested and 200 police officers hurt
Protesters erected barricades, lit fires and shot fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons in French streets overnight as tensions grew. More than 875 people were arrested and at least 200 police officers injured as the government struggled to restore order on a third night of unrest. Armored police vehicles rammed through the charred remains of cars that had been flipped and set ablaze in the northwestern Paris suburb of Nanterre.
State of emergency mulled by French govt
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Friday that the government was considering “all options” to restore order, including declaring a state of emergency. Asked by reporters if a state of emergency was a possibility, as some right-wing opposition parties have demanded, Borne replied: “I won’t tell you now, but we are looking at all options, with one priority: restoring order throughout the country”.