Despite the mobilization of 40,000 police and gendarmes, the violence extended throughout France three days after the death of Nahel M., shot by a police officer in Nanterre. In many towns, businesses and police stations were targeted.
In the western Paris suburb of Nanterre, the night began early on Thursday, June 29. By 4:30 pm, no sooner had the rally in memory of Nahel M., the teenager killed by a policeman on Tuesday, ended than thick smoke darkened the sky following the first fires. Some had hoped that the march would calm spirits, but it had no soothing effect on the dozens and dozens of young people who brought the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture to a third night of rioting and destruction, which spread to other parts of France and resulted in hundreds of arrests across the country.
Cash dispensers were smashed in, restaurants, pharmacies and hairdressing salons demolished, the public finance center ransacked, tobacco shops and gas stations looted, not to mention the countless car fires lit in the heart of the Pablo-Picasso neighborhood, the epicenter of Nanterre's anger, where panic-stricken residents were seen at 3 am scrambling to get their vehicles out of a parking lot where a burnt-out car was threatening to spread to its neighbors and the surrounding trees. The police station and the prefecture, which were particularly well protected, were spared.
The walls of the town called out "justice for Nahel," "revolt for Nahel," "vengeance for Nahel". A number of residents, both young and old, had promised an evening even more brutal than the previous one. "I've spent all day talking to young people, but they're out of control," said Karim, 47, who spent 35 years in one of the Pablo-Picasso district high towers. "Something has been switched on and it's never going to stop." During the day, he and the other residents of his tower had been advised by a text message from the condominium to go and sleep elsewhere if they could.
'Tonight, it's going to be something else' A CRS riot police officer stationed at Place Nelson-Mandela, where Nahel's car ended its fatal run, recounted how two young people who had passed by his troop at the end of the memorial march that had ended in a certain, but still measured, agitation, had said to them: "You'll see tonight, it's going to be something else." "We stayed back during the march because we know that the sight of the uniform can create tensions (...)," explained the police officer. "Our hierarchy told us: 'No interventions during the march'." But then we saw that the BRI [research and intervention brigade] and the BRAV-M [motorcycle brigade for the suppression of violent action] had arrived, so I think tonight the party's over, and it's going to start with some arrests
Visuals of protests, shooting and charred vehicles are coming up from France for the past two days now. The clashes erupted after police shot a 17-year-old Muslim boy named Nahel, with a history of criminal offences in Nanterre on June 27.
Notably, the encounter unfolded when the boy refused to follow the routine traffic control. His refusal to comply with the police’s instructions led to a confrontation that ended in his death. This incident has sparked an intense debate surrounding police conduct and the use of force.
In some of these visuals, locals can be seen raising ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ slogans. A video for the same can be seen here
A Nanterre les émeutiers affrontent la police aux cris d' "Allah akbar" pic.twitter.com/ygkPoSPsh1
— Fdesouche.com est une revue de presse (@F_Desouche) June 28, 2023
🚨 Tensions en cours à Saint-Denis, dans le prolongement de ce qu’il se passe à Nanterre.
— Laawnik TV (@Laawnik) June 28, 2023
La circulation est perturbée. pic.twitter.com/ih9d5hvm1m
2ème soirée de tensions à #Nanterre . De nombreux feux de voitures sont en cours. pic.twitter.com/SaKbzezJDN
— Amar Taoualit (@TaoualitAmar) June 28, 2023
Also, a video from Agence France-Presse shows fires set on the streets of the French cities of Nanterre and Lille on June 29 as protests continue following the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old.
Following his death the police is is only finding streets filled with charred remains of cars that had been flipped and set ablaze in the northwestern Paris suburb of Nanterre.
On the other side of Paris, protesters lit a fire at the city hall of the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. The French capital also saw garbage bins set ablaze and some store windows smashed.
In the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, police sought to disperse violent groups in the city centre, regional authorities said.
Elsewhere in the city, burning debris was seen on the street, as well as a wall on which “Vengeance pour Nahel” appeared to be spray painted, which translates to “Revenge for Nahel,”
Tens of thousands of police officers were deployed to take the situation under control but to no avail. More than 400 people were arrested overnight around the country and around 200 police officers were injured, according to a national police spokesperson.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 40,000 officers would be deployed overnight from June 29 to June 30, with 5,000 in the Paris region alone.
“The professionals of disorder must go home,” Darmanin said. While he said there’s no need yet to declare a state of emergency — a measure taken to quell weeks of rioting that followed the accidental death of two boys fleeing police in 2005 — he added: “The state’s response will be extremely firm.”
The police officer accused of pulling the trigger Tuesday was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide after prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met.” Preliminary charges mean investigating magistrates strongly suspect wrongdoing but need to investigate more before sending a case to trial.
The shooting shocked France and stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
The teenager’s family and their lawyers haven’t said the police shooting was race-related and they didn’t release his surname or details about him. Still, anti-racism activists renewed their complaints about police behaviour.
Notably the Muslim boy had frequent refusals to comply with the law in past, he had been involved in acts of common law, including concealment and rebellion against police officers in 2020. The following year, he faced charges related to using false license plates, concealment, and driving without insurance. Moreover, he had encounters with law enforcement in January and March 2023 for drug-related offences, including the consumption and sale of narcotics.
Rair Foundation reported, ‘The death of this boy has sparked widespread violence and unrest across France as individuals identifying as leftists and Muslims engage in rioting, property destruction, attacks on businesses and government buildings, and even targeting police officers. Their demands for ‘justice’ for Nahel appear to be used as an excuse to perpetuate further destruction. These actions contribute to the unfortunate deterioration of the situation in France.’
The Nanterre prosecutor’s office has initiated two separate investigations—one for refusal to comply and attempted intentional homicide against a person holding public authority and the other for intentional homicide by a person holding public authority.
Notably, Nahel’s family has announced their intention to file a complaint for intentional homicide against the police officer responsible for firing the fatal shot. However, the incident quickly became a platform for opportunistic left-wing politicians and celebrities who shamelessly rushed to support Nahel’s family without waiting for the release of all the pertinent facts.
What Ignited Assaults on Police Stations, Arson & Calls For ‘Vengeance’ in France?
Clashes flared up between protesters and police in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre after a teenager was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic check on Tuesday morning. It was later determined the officer had failed to meet the necessary requirements to justify the use of his weapon.
France has convulsed in a third consecutive night of protests following the police shooting of a teenager in a Paris suburb. Police, gendarmes and firefighters "courageously faced rare violence," said French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, making 667 arrests. Local authorities imposed a nighttime curfew in four regions: Clamart commune, Neuilly-sur-Marne, Savigny-le-Temple, and Compiegne. An estimated 40,000 law enforcement officers have been deployed across the nation, with at least 5,000 in Paris and its inner suburbs. Furthermore, riots are reported to have spilled over to Brussels, Belgium.
Sputnik takes a closer look at what is happening in France, and what triggered the violence.
Third Night of Riots
France has witnessed its third night of protests triggered by the police shooting of a 17-year-old in Nanterre, a suburb west of Paris, on June 27.
Large crowds gathered on Thursday afternoon at a vigil march organized by the teenager’s family in Nanterre. The youth's mother, wearing a white T-shirt reading “Justice for Nahel,” was also present.
However, the vigil quickly spiralled into violence echoing that of the preceding days.
In Nanterre, where Nahel M. was shot dead, streets were barricaded, cars torched, and projectiles hurled at police following a peaceful vigil. "Vengeance for Nahel" was spray painted across buildings, and a bank was set on fire, with firefighters rushing to put it out.
The participants of a protest march in memory of the teenager shot by the French police tried to break through to the prefecture building of the city of Nanterre, prompting the police to use tear gas, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Thursday.
As unrest swept major cities, including Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille, and Lille, around 40,000 police officers were deployed in an attempt to keep the violence in check.
A Nike shoe store was broken into in central Paris, and store windows were smashed along Rue de Rivoli shopping street, according to Paris police. Fires, fireworks, and other incidents were witnessed in Marseille, where police resorted to tear gas grenades during clashes with youths in Le Vieux Port, La Provence reported. A library was vandalized in the city center of Marseille.
Unrest gripped Toulouse, Lille, Lyon, and Pau as well, with videos on social media showing numerous fires across the country.
Special units of the French national police — the GIGN (National Gendarmerie Intervention Group), RAID (Research, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence), and BRI (Research and Intervention Brigade) — were sent to the French city of Nanterre, a French newspaper reported on Thursday, citing security sources.
©AFP 2023 / ZAKARIA ABDELKAFI
249 police officers and gendarmes were injured on Thursday night amid protests that erupted for the third consecutive night in France, the Interior Ministry announced.
Why Are People Protesting in France?
Violent unrest erupted in Nanterre, France, following the shooting of a 17-year-old driver by a police officer during a routine traffic check on Tuesday morning. The teen reportedly refused to comply with police instructions during the traffic stop. According to news media, the young man, identified only as Nahel M., was driving a rental car without a license and broke several traffic rules. According to the prosecutor in Nanterre, Nahel had been driving in a bus lane and, when officers attempted to stop him, ran a red light to get away, but got stuck in traffic. It was at that point that the police motorcyclists approached the car the teen was in. Since the incident happened, a screengrab of footage from the shooting has been circulating on social media. It appears to show the officer who fired the fatal shot as the car was driving away.
Emmanuel Macron’s Reaction
French President Emmanuel Macron labeled the violence in the country following the killing of the teenager by the police "unjustifiable" and called for calm, French media reported on Thursday.
"The turmoil following the death of a young man requires calm and composure... The last hours have been marked by scenes of violence against police stations, schools, city halls - in fact, against institutions and the republic. And it is totally unjustifiable," Macron said during a meeting of an inter-ministerial crisis group which he convened because of the unrest.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced on Friday that she had gathered ministers to discuss the "unbearable and inexcusable" rioting ahead of an emergency afternoon meeting called by Emmanuel Macron.
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