700 arrests
Police made 719 arrests nationwide by early Sunday following a mass security deployment aimed at quelling France’s worst social upheaval in years. More than 3,000 people have been detained overall since the 17-year-old’s death.
The victim
The teenager, Nahel, was laid to rest on Saturday in a Muslim ceremony in Nanterre, a Paris suburb where emotions over his loss remain raw.
Mayor faces mob fury
A burning car hit the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of l’Hay-les-Roses. Several schools, police stations, town halls and stores have been targeted by fires or vandalism in recent days but such a personal attack on a mayor’s home is unusual.
Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said his wife and one of his children were injured in the 1.30 am attack while they were sleeping and he was in the town hall monitoring the violence.
A big test for Macron
The crisis posed a new challenge to President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership and exposed deep-seated discontent in low-income neighbourhoods over discrimination and lack of opportunity.
The unrest prompted Macron to delay what would have been the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, starting Sunday evening.
Police ‘violence’
Thirteen people who didn’t comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year, and three this year, prompting demands for more accountability. France also saw protests of police violence and racial injustice after George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota.