France deploys armoured vehicles to contain riots over police shooting
Armoured vehicles manned by France's military police force are being sent into the streets as the government takes special measures to contain a fourth night of rioting triggered by the police shooting of a 17-year-old driver. French President Emmanuel Macron stopped short of declaring a state of emergency, but has called on parents to keep their children off the streets.
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Summary of facts:
- Victim was 17-year-old Nahel M, who was shot after being stopped for breaking traffic rules in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. His death has revived grievances about racial profiling by police in France's low-income, multiethnic suburbs.
- The government has announced special security measures to contain a fourth night of riots, including the deployment of armoured vehicles and cancellation of large events.
- Buses and trams will be suspended from 9pm Friday across the country, while several suburbs of Paris are enforcing 9pm-6am curfews until Monday.
- At least 875 people were arrested overnight Thursday in a third night of violence that saw cars torched, buildings vandalised and shops looted in several cities.
- Interior Ministry says 249 police and gendarmes were injured in clashes Thursday night, when 40,000 police officers, including elite riot units, were deployed throughout the country.
- The police officer who shot Nahel has been charged with voluntary homicide and imprisoned. He has apologised to the family, while his lawyer says he is "devastated".
- More than 6,000 people took part in a silent march for Nahel on Thursday in Nanterre. Nahel's mother blamed her son's death on the police officer who shot him, and not on the policing system.
Macron said additional security forces would be deployed on Friday night. Denouncing the "unacceptable exploitation" of the teenager's death, he called on parents to take responsibility during the riots and on social media outlets to remove "sensitive" rioting content.
Following an emergency cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that gendarmes – a law enforcement unit that is part of the French military – would be deployed in armoured vehicles.
Large public events will also be cancelled to allow security forces to focus on containing the unrest, she said.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that bus and tram services will be halted nationwide at 9pm from Friday and sales of large fireworks, which have been launched at police and buildings during the unrest, would be banned.
Regional prefects, who are in charge of security around the country, will also be asked to ban the sale and transport of petrol cans, acids and other inflammable liquids.
France's second-largest city, Marseille, has banned protests and will halt all public transport from 7pm onwards, local authorities said.
Borne had earlier said the government would consider “all options” to restore order.
UN racism concerns
The United Nations rights office said it was concerned by the shooting of Nahel, who was of Arab origin.
"This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement," spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said.
"We also emphasise the importance of peaceful assembly. We call on the authorities to ensure use of force by police to address violent elements in demonstrations always respects the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, non-discrimination, precaution and accountability."
The French foreign ministry responded by calling any allegation of systemic discrimination by France's police force "totally unfounded".
Public buildings targeted
Public buildings were the target of violence throughout France on Thursday night, with a police station in the Pyrenees city of Pau hit with a Molotov cocktail, according to regional authorities, and an elementary school and a district office set on fire in Lille.
In the city centre of Marseille, a library was vandalised, according to local officials, and scuffles broke out nearby when police used tear gas to disperse a group of 100 to 150 people who allegedly tried to set up barricades.
Multiple public buildings were also targeted in Seine-Saint-Denis, in the Paris area, according to a police source.
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In the suburb of Drancy, rioters used a truck to force open the entrance to a shopping centre, which was then partly looted and burned, a police source said.
Firefighters in the northern municipality of Roubaix, meanwhile, dashed from blaze to blaze throughout the night, with a hotel near the train station also catching fire, sending its dozen or so residents fleeing into the streets.
In Nanterre, the epicentre of the unrest, tensions rose around midnight, with fireworks and explosives set off in the Pablo Picasso district, where Nahel had lived.
Macron has called for calm and said the protest violence was "unjustifiable".
Police saw 'an Arab face'
In her first media interview since the shooting, Nahel's mother, Mounia, told the France 5 channel: "I don't blame the police, I blame one person: the one who took the life of my son."
She said the 38-year-old officer responsible, who was detained and charged with voluntary manslaughter on Thursday, "saw an Arab face, a little kid, and wanted to take his life".
The police had initially reported that Nahel was shot after driving his car at police, but this was contradicted by video footage that rapidly went viral across social media and has since been authenticated by French news agency AFP.
The footage shows the two policemen standing by 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 before gradually coming to a stop.
(with newswires)
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