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2023-06-30 Europe
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France arrests dozens in unrest after police shooting, Rioting and looting spreads across France and into Belgium Thursday
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[An Nahar] Protesters angry after police fatally shot a 17-year-old boy set cars and public buildings ablaze in Gay Paree suburbs and unrest spread to some other French cities and towns, despite increased security efforts and the president's calls for calm.
The killing of 17-year-old Nahel during a traffic check Tuesday, captured on video, shocked the country and stirred up long-simmering tensions between young people and police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods around La Belle France.
Nahel's surname has not been released by authorities or by his family. In earlier statements, lawyers for the family spelled the name Nael.
Clashes first erupted Tuesday night in and around the Gay Paree suburb of Nanterre, where Nahel was killed, and the government deployed 2,000 police to maintain order Wednesday. But violence resumed after dusk.
Police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and extinguish numerous blazes through the night that damaged schools, cop shoppes and town halls or other public buildings, according to a spokesperson for the national police. The national police on Thursday reported fires or skirmishes in multiple cities overnight, from Toulouse
...lies on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in La Belle France...
in the south to Lille in the north, though the nexus of tensions was Nanterre and other Gay Paree suburbs.
Police arrested 150 people around the country, more than half of them in the Gay Paree region, the spokesperson said. She was not authorized to be publicly named according to police rules.
The number of injured was not immediately released.
French President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency security meeting Thursday about the violence.
"These acts are totally unjustifiable," Macron said at the beginning of the meeting, which aimed at securing hot spots and planning for the coming days "so full peace can return."
Macron also said it was time for "remembrance and respect" as Nahel's mother called for a silent march Thursday in his honor on the square where he was killed.
Multiple vehicles were set ablaze in Nanterre and protesters shot fireworks and threw stones at police, who fired repeated volleys of tear gas. Flames shot out of three stories of a building, and a blaze was reported at an electrical plant. Fire damaged the town hall of the Gay Paree suburb of L'Ile-Saint-Denis, not far from La Belle France's national stadium and the headquarters of the Gay Paree 2024 Olympics.
- A third night of mayhem saw violent clashes spreading across Europe last night
- Macron was criticised by an MEP for 'applauding' John while Paris was on fire
Rioting and looting spread across Europe last night after the 'execution' killing of a teenager in Paris - as pictures emerged of President Emmanuel Macron partying with Elton John while his country burnt, triggering a furious backlash.
Mr Macron was filmed at Paris's Accor Arena on Wednesday evening, watching the singer on his farewell tour, while rioters caused mayhem in the capital following the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old identified as Nahel on Tuesday. The French President was snapped arm in arm with the legendary 76-year-old artist - who he bestowed France's Legion of Honour award - alongside his wife Brigitte.
But while Macron was hobnobbing backstage, police were locked in fierce clashes with protesters, making 150 arrests nationwide - as public anger spilled out onto the streets of France's major cities for a third night.
Protesters torched cars, barricaded roads and hurled projectiles at police. Other rioters scrawled 'Vengeance for Nahel' across buildings and bus shelters as a bank was set ablaze.
And in a fresh escalation of the chaos, violent clashes reportedly spread into the Belgium capital of Brussels, amid fears further protests could spread to other European capitals.
In a desperate attempt to quell the civil unarrest, some 40,000 French cops are today being deployed nationwide.
But Macron's photo with Elton ignited outrage overnight, with Thierry Mariani, an MEP with Marine Le Pen's National Rally, raging: 'While France was on fire, Macron applauded Elton John', the Telegraph reported.
The violence continued despite the police officer accused of pulling the trigger being handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide.
There are also growing concerns of the mayhem spilling out into other corners of Europe after footage emerged of on social media of riots starting in areas of Belgium.
Riot police in body armour and wielding shields were seen storming the streets in the Belgium district of Anneessens. Protesters, some clad in hoodies and wearing masks, clashed with the authorities as they torched cars and used fireworks as weapons in the streets. The disorder was reportedly arranged over social media in response to the killing of 17-year-old Nahel M. who was shot dead in his car on Tuesday by a French police officer.
About a dozen people were detained during scuffles related to the killing in France, with Belgian police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere saying several fires were brought under control, and that at least one car was burned.
Prosecutor Pascal Prache has said his initial investigation led him to conclude 'the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met'.
Despite government appeals for calm and vows that order would be restored, smoke billowed from cars and rubbish was set ablaze in the Paris suburb of Nanterre following a peaceful afternoon march in honour of the teenager identified only by his first name, Nahel.
After a morning crisis meeting following violence that injured scores of police and damaged nearly 100 public buildings, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the number of officers in the streets would more than quadruple, from 9,000 to 40,000. In the Paris region alone, the number of officers deployed would more than double to 5,000.
'The professionals of disorder must go home,' Mr Darmanin said.
While there is no need yet to declare a state of emergency - a measure taken to quell weeks of rioting in 2005 - he added: 'The state's response will be extremely firm.'
He said officers made more than 180 arrests before Thursday and that there would 'doubtless' be more.
Bus and tram services in the Paris area were shutting down before sunset as a precaution to safeguard transportation workers and passengers.
The town of Clamart, home to 54,000 people in the French capital's south-west suburbs, said it was taking the extraordinary step of putting an overnight curfew in place from Thursday through to Monday, citing 'the risk of new public order disturbances.'
The mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne announced a similar curfew in that town in the eastern suburbs of Paris.
Marseille, the giant port city in the south of France saw the beginnings of unrest on Thursday evening, with several hundred young people roaming the city centre and setting fire to rubbish containers, including in front of the region's main administrative building, police said.
Officers dispersed most of the about 400 people who had gathered, police said. Police arrested three people and one officer was injured.
The unrest extended even to Brussels, where about a dozen people were detained during scuffles related to the shooting in France. Police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere said several fires were brought under control, and that at least one car was burned.
The shooting captured on video shocked the country 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 have not said the police shooting was race-related and they did not release his surname or details about him. Still, his death instantly inflamed raw nerves in neighbourhoods that have welcomed generations of immigrants from France's former colonies and elsewhere. Their France-born children frequently complain that they are subjected to police ID checks and harassment far more frequently than white people or those in more affluent neighbourhoods.
Mr Prache, the Nanterre prosecutor, said officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish licence plates in a bus lane. He ran a red light to avoid being stopped then got stuck in traffic. Both officers involved said they drew their guns to prevent him from fleeing. The officer who fired a single shot said he feared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car, according to Mr Prache. The officers said they felt 'threatened' as the car drove off.
He said two magistrates are leading the investigation, as is common in France. Preliminary charges mean investigating judges strongly suspect wrongdoing but need to investigate more before sending the case to trial. The police officer was in provisional detention, prosecutors said.
A decorated French police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old French-Algerian, Nahel M., who raced away from a traffic stop while reportedly endangering the life of a pedestrian and a cyclist.
| Besoeker commented: Additional decorations, a new Peugeot 508, and a villa in Saint-Paul-de-Vence should be forthcoming. |
So who was this angelic soul so brutally gunned down by French police?
ReMix:
According to information from Europe 1 news outlets, Nahel M. had 15 mentions in the criminal history file and had been implicated five times for refusals to comply with police officers since 2021, thus all in less than two years.
In addition, police recorded him for crimes including “concealment” and disorderly conduct against police in 2020. In February 2022, he had been implicated in the use of false license plates, concealment and driving without insurance.
In January and March 2023, police arrested him for the consumption and sale of narcotics.
Not exactly an Algerian mob hitman, but on the other hand, running away from police and nearly killing innocent bystanders creates a situation for the police officer to make a choice to protect law-abiding citizens or not.
The officer was no nervous rookie either. He was a highly decorated and experienced police officer.
Le Figaro:
Assigned to the public order and traffic department (DOPC) as a biker for the Hauts-de-Seine territorial traffic and road safety company since September 2022, this father has received a series of distinctions during his career in the national police, which began 10 years ago. According to our information, this former soldier received eight letters of congratulations and an internal security medal.
His action during the demonstrations of the yellow vests in 2020, as well as his role in the arrest of an organizer of kidnappings and theft in Val-d’Oise in May 2021, also earned him decorations by the then prefect of police, Didier Lallement, two bronze medals for acts of courage and dedication.
More than 150 arrests have been made and dozens of vehicles torched. Also, several buildings, including the local city hall, were set on fire.
There’s more to this story than meets the eye — on both sides.
The Local:
The circumstances leading to his death are puzzling. How did he come to be driving a bright yellow rented Mercedes? Why were the motorcycle traffic cops so wound up about a banal traffic violation? One of the policemen is heard on the video clip saying: “You’re going to get a bullet in the head if you’re not careful.”
Relations between police and suburban youth are appalling. That has not changed since 2005. In France, the least experienced officers often end up policing the most difficult areas. That has not changed either.
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