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France hit by third night of riots over police killing teen
Published 19 hours agoPublished 19 hours agolast updated 2 hours agolast updated 2 hours ago
France witnessed a third night of riots amid high public anger over the fatal shooting of a teen by a policeman. Meanwhile, the unrest has spread to neighboring Belgium. DW has the latest.
https://p.dw.com/p/4TCKo
French police in the Paris suburb Nanterre amid protests
Video footage of the shooting shocked France and led to clashes between protesters and policeImage: Aurelien Morissard/AP/picture alliance
Skip next section What you need to know
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Prosecutors say the police officer was charged with voluntary homicide over the teen’s killing in the Paris suburb of Nanterre
The government deployed 40,000 police officers following two nights of rioting
The unrest extended even to Brussels, where about a dozen people were detained
Skip next section Interior minister says 100 arrests as third night of violence rages
3 hours ago3 hours ago
Interior minister says 100 arrests as third night of violence rages
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin says police have already arrested more than 100 people as the riots enter their third night.
He also praised the work of the emergency services
“Support for our police officers, gendarmes, and firefighters who are doing a brave job,” said Darmanin.
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Skip next section Dead teenager’s mother says officer ‘saw an Arab face’
3 hours ago3 hours ago
Dead teenager’s mother says officer ‘saw an Arab face’
The mother of the teenager who was killed says she thought the death was racially motivated, but added that she held no grudge against the wider police force.
“I don’t blame the police, I blame one person: the one who took the life of my son,” Mounia, described as a worker in the medical sector, said in her first media interview since the Tuesday morning shooting.
“I have friends who are officers. They are completely behind me… they don’t agree with what happened,” she said.
She said the officer who killed her son — who was at the wheel of a powerful Mercedes without a license — had other options than firing his gun.
France: Third day of unrest after teenager shot dead
02:14
“He didn’t need to kill my son. A bullet? So close to his chest? No, no,” the single mother said.
The officer “saw an Arab face, a little kid, and wanted to take his life,” she said. “How long is this going to go on for? How many other children are going to go like this? How many mothers will find themselves like me?” she added.
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Skip next section Policeman who killed teen apologizes to family
3 hours ago3 hours ago
Policeman who killed teen apologizes to family
The policeman who killed a French teenager in a Paris suburb on Tuesday, sparking violent protests across the country, has apologized to the family while in custody, his lawyer said.
“The first words he pronounced were to say sorry and the last words he said were to say sorry to the family,” Laurent-Franck Lienard told French broadcaster BFMTV.
“He is devastated, he doesn’t get up in the morning to kill people,” Lienard said. “He didn’t want to kill him.”
Lienard said he would on Friday appeal against his client — who has been charged with voluntary homicide — being placed in custody.
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Skip next section Unrest spreads to Marseille and Brussels
4 hours ago4 hours ago
Unrest spreads to Marseille and Brussels
Unrest in France has continued with police and youths clashing in the southern French port city of Marseille.
Hundreds of young people were seen roaming the streets and setting trash cans on fire in the city, including some at the regional administrative office.
Police say they dispersed a crowd of roughly 400 people and made several arrests. One officer was reported injured in the melee.
The unrest has now spread beyond France’s borders to neighboring Belgium.
Brussels police on Thursday evening arrested roughly a dozen individuals who clashed with authorities. Police say at least one car was set on fire and that several smaller fires had been extinguished.
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Skip next section France bracing for third night of riots
7 hours ago7 hours ago
France bracing for third night of riots
Police around France are bracing for a potential third night of unrest.
An additional 40,000 officers were made available for overnight duty, four times the numbers on hand on Wednesday.
There were reports of clashes in Nanterre, the Parisien district where the 17-year-old was killed, following a march in his honor in which around 6,000 people had participated.
French news agency AFP also cited a police source as saying that further violence was expected in the “coming nights,” with “actions tageted at the forces of order and the symbols of the state.” The police source was discussing an internal memo, and French newspaper Le Monde appeared to quote a police source relaying information from the same paper.
Le Monde reported that authorities expected a “generalization” of the unrest, which at first had been confined to Nanterre but which already showed signs of spreading nationwide last night.
However, just before 9 p.m. local time, reports from most major French cities remained calm, despite the heightened police presence and underlying tension.
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Skip next section Town in Paris region imposes curfew to restore order
10 hours ago10 hours ago
Town in Paris region imposes curfew to restore order
The town of Clamart, southwest of Paris, has announced an overnight curfew in response to rioting.
The measure is to be in place from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., starting Thursday and ending on Monday morning.
The town of 54,000 inhabitants cited “the risk of new public order disturbances” for the decision.
“Clamart is a safe and calm town, we are determined that it stay that way,” it said.
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Skip next section French policeman faces voluntary homicide charge over killing
10 hours ago10 hours ago
French policeman faces voluntary homicide charge over killing
French prosecutors say they have handed a policeman a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide over the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel in Nanterre.
The killing led to two nights of riots in Paris and other cities across in France.
Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met.”
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Skip next section Paris bus and tram services to end early on Thursday
11 hours ago11 hours ago
Paris bus and tram services to end early on Thursday
The president of the region including the French capital Paris has announced that public bus and tram services will not run after 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) following two nights of riots.
Valerie Pecresse said that decision had been taken so that the public transport services could not become “targets for thugs and vandals.”
Protests and riots following the shoot of a teenager in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday led to numerous instances of property damage.
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Skip next section French police fire tear gas on march for Nahel in Nanterre
12 hours ago12 hours ago
French police fire tear gas on march for Nahel in Nanterre
Police in the Nanterre suburb of Paris began to fire tear gas on the march that had been planned to commemorate the teenager who was shot by police there on Tuesday.
French newspaper Le Monde reported that tear gas was fired as the march, which was attended by around 6,200 people, approached the scene of Tuesday’s shooting.
Demonstrators walk through tear gas after incidents during a march for NahelDemonstrators walk through tear gas after incidents during a march for Nahel
Police fired tear gas on the march for Nahel as it was reaching its endpointImage: Michel Euler/AP Photo/picture alliance
Some protesters had thrown projectiles at the police outside Nanterre’s main administrative building, French news agency AFP reported.
The tear gas resulted in the protesters dispersing.
The mother of killed 17-year-old Nahel gestures during a march for Nahel that was attended by thousands of peopleThe mother of killed 17-year-old Nahel gestures during a march for Nahel that was attended by thousands of people
Thousands of people, including the mother of the teen killed during a traffic stop near Paris, were taking part in the commemoration marchImage: Michel Euler/AP Photo/picture alliance
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Skip next section March for teen gets underway in Paris
13 hours ago13 hours ago
March for teen gets underway in Paris
A commemoration march is taking place for the teenager who was shot dead by police for allegedly attempting to flee a traffic stop in Nanterre.
DW correspondent Lucia Schulten is tracking developments from Nanterre — situated on the outskirts of Paris — which has been at the heart of unrest following the killing.
“The street has been blocked by marchers,” Schulten said, adding that it was a highly charged and “loud situation.”
Schulten said that it was “difficult” to predict what would happen, where the march was going, or whether it would descend into violence. But she pointed out that people were angry.
In terms of the French government response, Schulten said that authorities were “doubling down with more police” and that over the coming nights there will be 40,000 police officers deployed.
March for teenager killed by police: Lucia Schulten reports
04:30
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Skip next section France mobilizes 40,000 police officers as riots spread
15 hours ago15 hours ago
France mobilizes 40,000 police officers as riots spread
The French Interior Ministry said on Thursday that it is mobilizing 40,000 police officers to deal with riots that have spread across France.
The unrest follows the shooting of a teenager of North African descent in Paris on Tuesday.
“The state must be firm in its response, tonight 40,000 policemen will be mobilized, including 5,000 in the Paris region, versus 9,000 yesterday,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
The officers will also be deployed to towns and cities across France where riots spread on Wednesday night.
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Skip next section Fire engulfed French streets amid overnight clashes
16 hours ago16 hours ago
Fire engulfed French streets amid overnight clashes
Cars and bins were torched in parts of Paris and across France overnight for the second night of unrest.
Media reports and images showed protesters launching fireworks at riot police, who fired projectiles to try to disperse the angry crowds.
A tram line in a Paris suburb was also reportedly set alight.
The French AFP news agency cited a police source as saying several cars were torched in the city of Toulouse, and responding police and firefighters were pelted with projectiles. Reports of similar scenes emerged also from Dijon and Lyon.
The same source also said protesters attacked security officers with fireworks at the entrance of Fresnes, the second-largest prison complex in France.
“They did not enter the prison grounds. The police were quickly called in,” the source said.
The mayor of Mons-en-Baroeul, outside the northern city of Lille, told AFP that some 50 hooded individuals stormed the town hall, which was later set on fire.
Seven burnt out vehicles are seen outside the municipal police building following violence in Neuilly-sur-Marne on June 29, 2023Seven burnt out vehicles are seen outside the municipal police building following violence in Neuilly-sur-Marne on June 29, 2023
Burnt out vehicles can be seen across French streets on Thursday, like this image taken outside the municipal police building in Neuilly-sur-MarneImage: Bertrand Guay/AFP
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Skip next section Police officer under investigation for ‘voluntary homicide’
17 hours ago17 hours ago
Police officer under investigation for ‘voluntary homicide’
A French prosecutor said the police officer who shot a 17-year-old on Tuesday had been placed under formal investigation for “voluntary homicide” and would be brought before a judge on Thursday.
The Nanterre public prosecutor said the police officer could be indicted on Thursday, adding that the initial investigations showed that “the legal conditions for the use of the weapon (during the incident) were not met.”
An autopsy of the body of the victim showed that the cause of death was receiving a single shot from a gun, the prosecutor said.
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Skip next section Unrest evokes memories of 2005 riots
17 hours ago17 hours ago
Unrest evokes memories of 2005 riots
Paris-based journalist Catherine Field told DW that the unrest that took place overnight was “exactly what the government hoped would not happen” when they deployed an additional 2,000 police officers in the Paris region.
Politicians are under pressure to contain the situation as they are “aware that back in 2005, when we had similar violence, that that violence went on for 17 nights,” Field added. The unrest in French suburbs nearly two decades ago had erupted over social injustice.
“Even though back in 2005 we heard that the police would make an effort to recruit people from these low-income areas, people from families of [migrant] background, this hasn’t really happened,” she said.
“So there really are these grievances that… have been passed from one generation to another, and these are still the grievances that we’ve heard for 20, 30 years.”
Field also noted that police violence is considered a problem in France, with a record 13 people killed by the police in 2022 after refusing to stop for police road checks. The majority of those were of Black or Arab descent.
https://p.dw.com/p/4TCza
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Skip next section Macron calls crisis meeting
Published 19 hours agoPublished 19 hours agolast updated 17 hours agolast updated 17 hours ago
Macron calls crisis meeting
French President Emmanuel Macron is holding crisis talks with senior government officials at the Interior Ministry for securing hot spots of unrest and planning for the coming days “so full peace can return.”
“The last few hours have been marked by scenes of violence against police stations, but also schools and town halls… against institutions and the Republic,” Macron told the meeting.
He added that such attacks “are absolutely unjustifiable,” and said it was time for “remembrance and respect” instead.
The French president later wrote on Twitter: “The next few hours must be marked by contemplation, justice and calm.”
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Skip next section Slain teen’s mother calls for silent march
18 hours ago18 hours ago
Slain teen’s mother calls for silent march
The mother of Nahel, the teenager who was fatally shot by the police, has called for a silent march on Thursday in honor of her only child.
The march is set to take place on the same square he was killed in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
Police shot 17-year-old Nahel, whose surname was not revealed by authorities, during a traffic check that was captured on video.
The shooting shocked the country and raised tensions between young people and police in neighborhoods where many residents struggle with racial or class discrimination.
According to the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, the police officer accused of killing Nahel is in custody and could face preliminary charges as soon as Thursday.
Protesters in Paris hold signs that reads ‘Justice for Nahel’ in tribute of the teenager who was killed by a policeman in the suburb of NanterreProtesters in Paris hold signs that reads ‘Justice for Nahel’ in tribute of the teenager who was killed by a policeman in the suburb of Nanterre
French activists renewed calls to tackle what they see as systemic police abuseImage: Ibrahim Ezzat/NurPhoto/picture alliance
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