At least 150 arrests in violent protests over France police killing

[MenInG]

At least 150 arrested in protests - minister

France's interior minister has said in the last half hour that 150 arrests have been made during protests overnight.

Gérald Darmanin said in a tweet that town halls, schools and police stations were targeted in a night of "unbearable violence" across the country.

==

What triggered the protests?

On Tuesday, police shot dead a 17-year-old who failed to stop for a traffic check.

The teenager, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range as he drove off and crashed soon afterwards.

According to French media, police initially suggested the teen drove his car towards them with the intention of hurting them. But footage you can see above - which was verified by the AFP news agency - shows an officer pointing his weapon at the driver through his window and appearing to fire at point-blank range.

The agency also reports that a person in the video can be heard saying: "You're going to be shot in the head" - but it is unclear who says it.

Since the death of Nahel, hundreds have taken to the streets across France.

==

Majority of those killed in traffic stops black and Arab - Reuters

A tally compiled by Reuters news agency found that a majority of victims of lethal French police shootings during traffic stops since 2017 were black or Arab.

Last year saw a record 13 deaths of people killed after not complying with a traffic stop.

Nahel himself came from a French-Algerian family, a family neighbour has told Reuters.

 

[MenInG]

Unrest erupted in France for a second night in a row as security forces deployed in the thousands to prevent more violent protests over the fatal shooting of a teenager by police.
Around 2,000 riot police have been called up in suburbs around Paris, after a 17-year-old was shot in the chest at point-blank range on Tuesday morning.

The death sparked clashes and arson attacks in several Paris suburbs overnight on Tuesday, with 31 people arrested and 24 police officers injured.

Overnight on Wedensday, trash bins were set on fire and fireworks set off in the western suburb of Nanterre, where the shooting took place, as well as other communes of the Hauts-de-Seine region to the west of Paris, and in the eastern city of Dijon.

In the Essonne region to the south of the capital, a group of people set a bus on fire after having all the passengers get off, police said.

In the southern city of Toulouse, several cars were torched and responding police and firefighters pelted with projectiles as thick black smoke billowed high into the sky, a police source said.

About 16 people have been arrested across the country, police said shortly after midnight.

Celebrities including star footballer Kylian Mbappe expressed outrage and grief at the death of the teenager, while the government issued rare criticism of the security forces in a bid to cool tempers.

"A teenager was killed. That is inexplicable and unforgivable," President Emmanuel Macron said during an official visit to Marseille, southern France.

"Nothing can justify the death of a young person."

The victim, named as Nahel M. from the western Paris suburb of Nanterre, was pulled over by two policemen for breaking traffic rules while driving a yellow Mercedes on Tuesday morning.

Police initially reported that an officer had shot at the teenager because he was driving his car at him, but this version of events was contradicted by a video circulating on social media and authenticated by AFP.

The footage shows the two policemen standing by the side of the stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at the driver.

A voice is heard saying "You are going to get a bullet in the head."

The police officer then appears to fire as the car abruptly drives off.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told parliament that the operation "was obviously not in line with the rules of engagement for police".

'Revolt for my son'

The incident has reignited debate in France about police tactics amid longstanding criticism from rights groups about the treatment of people in low-income suburbs, particularly ethnic minorities.

Last year, 13 people were killed in France after refusing to stop for police traffic checks, with a law change in 2017 that gave greater powers to officers to use their weapons now under scrutiny.

But the shooting also follows a series of deaths among the ranks of serving police officers that have provoked widespread public sympathy.

Concerns about violent crime in France are also growing.

Among left-wing politicians, Greens party leader Marine Tondelier said that "what I see on this video is the execution by police of a 17-year-old kid, in France, in 2023, in broad daylight".

But many right-wing politicians were quick to defend the reputation of the police force, with far-right leader Marine Le Pen saying the officer in question was entitled to the "presumption of innocence".

All French governments are haunted by the prospect of a repeat of 2005 riots sparked by the death of two black boys during a police chase. Those protests resulted in around 10,000 cars being burned and 6,000 people arrested.

"There are all the ingredients for another explosion potentially," one government advisor told AFP on condition of anonymity.

'Hurting for France'

The victim, Nahel, was a delivery driver who had dropped out of high school.

He "wasn't a delinquent," a 55-year-old woman who said she knew him told AFP near his home on Wednesday.

"Why did the policeman shoot even though his life was not in danger?" said Juliette, who asked for her full name not to be used.

Nahel's mother posted a video on TikTok calling for a tribute march on Thursday for her son, her only child.

Celebrities also voiced disgust and outrage.

"I am hurting for my France," tweeted Mbappe, captain of the French men's national football team and star player at Paris Saint-Germain.

Actor Omar Sy, famous for his role in the film "The Intouchables" and the "Lupin" TV show, wrote on Twitter: "I hope that justice worthy of the name will honour the memory of this child."

The 38-year old policeman filmed firing the lethal shot was taken into custody afterwards and is under investigation for voluntary manslaughter.

Nahel M.'s lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, said he would also file an additional complaint for false testimony over the allegation that Nahel had tried to run them over.

There were two passengers in the car. One ran off and the other, also a teenager, was briefly detained.

NDTV

 

[MenInG]

A french prosecutor has announced that the police officer who fatally shot a teenager in Paris has been placed under formal investigation for voluntary homicide.

 

[Saj]

Last year saw a record 13 deaths of people killed after not complying with a traffic stop.

Incredible - says it all really doesn't it.

France seems to be a pretty grim place to live in for minorities.

 

[MenInG]

Arrests in Marseille and Lille after clashes

Three people have been arrested in Marseille following clashes with police, French media are reporting.

Video and pictures on social media appear to show rubbish piles have been set on fire in several places, while police deployed tear gas to disperse crowds gathering in the port area of the southern city.

French newspaper Le Monde says one officer has been taken to hospital after being injured by projectiles thrown by protesters.

Six people have been arrested by riot police in Lille, near the border with Belgium, according to a police source quoted by the AFP news agency.

Fires have also been set by protesters in the south western city of Toulouse, Le Monde reports, but no arrests have been recorded there so far.

 

[daytrader]

Macron to hold crisis meeting as 667 arrested and violence spreads
Government struggles to contain unrest that has spread from housing estates to the centres of major cities

Emmanuel Macron is to head another crisis meeting of ministers as the French government struggles to contain an escalation of unrest that has spread from housing estates across the country to the centre of major cities after the police shooting of a teenager earlier this week.

A total of 667 people were arrested across France into the early hours of Friday morning, officials said, as violence continued into a third night of riots triggered by the deadly police shooting of a 17-year-old of Algerian and Moroccan descent during a traffic stop.

Fireworks and projectiles were thrown at police, bins were set alight and buses and bus depots torched in towns and cities across the country. In some towns, public buildings were targeted. There was unrest in Dijon and several towns in Burgundy, clashes in the centre of Marseille in the south and in and around Lille in the north. There were also disturbances in cities including Rennes and Lyon. Protesters clashed with police in Paris, burning bins and for the first time, there was looting of shops in the centre of the capital.

On the Pablo Picasso housing estate in Nanterre – where the 17-year-old boy, Nahel, who was shot by police had grown up – clashes with police continued through the night.

At least three towns around Paris, including Clamart, Compiègne and Neuilly-sur-Marne, imposed full or partial night-time curfews as a police intelligence report leaked to French media predicted “widespread urban violence over the coming nights”.

A lawyer for the officer accused of shooting the 17-year-old known as Nahel M in Nanterre, a suburb west of central Paris, said he had offered an apology to the teen’s family.

“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 BFMTV. “He is devastated, he doesn’t get up in the morning to kill people.”

...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...e-officer-accused-of-shooting-teen-apologises

 

[Waleed93]

France is in a state of war.

Riots are taking place every night, with attackers burning and looting markets, schools, administration offices, police stations, buses, trains, public properties, etc...

As I am typing this at 6:00PM, riots have already started in a few supermarkets and malls here 20 minutes away from Paris.

 

[Firebat]

France riots: Kylian Mbappe and French football team call for end to violence in country

France captain Kylian Mbappe says the "violence must stop" as protests grip the country following the death of a teenager shot by police.

France has seen nights of unrest after Nahel M, 17, was killed as he drove away from a traffic stop on Tuesday.

"Violence solves nothing, especially when it inevitably turns against those who are expressing it," Mbappe posted on his Instagram story.

The 24-year-old called for "peaceful and constructive" protests.

More than 900 arrests were made on Thursday night alone, officials said, with the violence continuing on Friday. The government announced it would deploy 45,000 police officers in a bid to contain further violence.

From Lille and Roubaix in the north to Marseille in the south, shops have been ransacked, streets badly damaged and cars set on fire.

Paris St-Germain forward Mbappe won the World Cup with France in 2018 and was handed the captaincy by manager Didier Deschamps in March.

His statement, apparently speaking on behalf of the France team, added: "Like all French people were were marked and shocked by the death of young Naheel."

Mbappe said that the France players, many of whom come from working-class neighbourhoods like Nahel, share "the feelings of sadness and pain".

Mbappe was raised in Bondy, a northeastern suburb of Paris.

He said the players "could not remain silent" as they called for the "time of violence to give way to that of mourning, dialogue and reconstruction".

Meanwhile, Tour de France organisers say they are prepared to adapt to any situation amid the unrest in the country.

The Tour starts in Bilbao, Spain on Saturday before moving into France on Monday.

Race director Christian Prudhomme said: "We are in constant liaison with the State services and we are following the situation and how it has been evolving. Depending on what happens we will adapt if needed."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66070707

 

[KB]

Incredible - says it all really doesn't it.

France seems to be a pretty grim place to live in for minorities.

By chance, I was in France in late June at the time of the protests and violence. I spoke to a thoughtful Frenchman about the situation. What I came away with was the sense of how problematic it was when ideals become detached from everyday reality and when there is an excessive believe in universalism.

In France it is illegal to collect statistics on ethnic minorities. This stems from the belief that in a secular republic, all should be equal. Worthy as an aspiration, it does not however evade the reality that not all are in fact treated equally. Rather than confronting the issue, the problem is wished away; lofty ideals disconnected from actual existing conditions.

This is linked to the strong streak of abstraction in French thought, as argued by the perceptive academic, Sudhir Hazareesingh. He quotes the nineteenth century French writer, Émile de Montégut: “There is no people among whom abstract ideas have played such a great role, whose history is rife with such formidable philosophical tendencies, and where individuals are so oblivious to facts and possessed to such a high degree with a rage for abstractions.”

There is another feature of French thought: universalism. This sense of its great philosophers speaking not just for themselves or the French but for the whole world. The French writer, Jean d’Ormesson, put it as: “More than any nation, France is haunted by a yearning towards universality.” The feeling of France symbolising or aspiring to embody universal principles can be disabling when dealing with difference. The specific or particular which does not fit with the universal becomes difficult to understand. In the end this becomes a problem with acknowledging difference and accepting diversity.

 

[Bhaijaan]

I was in Paris last year.
I knew earlier that because of the former French colonies and related migrations France had a considerable black population but I wasn’t ready to see that literally all the blacks were only doing low wage jobs. In my week long stay there I didn’t see the blacks representing French companies during my meetings but my taxi driver , people serving at restaurants and hotels and all the low wage workers were mostly black.

No accusations to be made but it felt weird and sad.

Maybe it’s just the sad reality of immigrants. I mean how is the Middle East any different. You have desiz and philipinos they’re dumping the same.