France: Curfews have been imposed in many locations as protests over a man’s murder in a police shot continue
On Thursday, the French government sent nearly 40,000 police and gendarmes around the country, including special counter-terrorism and tactical units, in response to rioters enraged over the murder of a 17-year-old pizza delivery guy, who set fire to a bank and attacked a jail.
Paris and its surrounding suburbs have been reinforced with an additional 5,000 cops, according to the French Interior Ministry.
National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), Investigation and Intervention Brigade (BRI), and Inquest Assistance Intervention Deterrence (RAID) tactical units have been observed in Nanterre, where the rioting began.
On Tuesday morning, two cops pulled over the kid, subsequently identified as Nahel M., in the neighborhood northwest of Paris.
A la sortie du RER Nanterre-Préfecture, où se déroulent les premiers heurts de la soirée après une période post-marche blanche relativement calme, une agence bancaire a été incendiée, menaçant d’embraser tout l’immeuble. Les pompiers interviennent, applaudis par la foule. pic.twitter.com/k5LIQz33Qp
— Henri Seckel (@hseckel) June 29, 2023
When the yellow Mercedes with Polish license plates began to speed away, one of the cops opened fire through the driver’s side window, killing Nahel.
More than 6,000 people marched through Nanterre on Thursday, responding to Nahel’s mother Mounia’s appeal for “vengeance” on social media.
The protest ended in skirmishes with police.
By 9 p.m. local time, a Credit Mutuelle bank branch in town had been plundered and set ablaze.
Clashes also erupted in other regions of France.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 180 persons were detained and 170 police officers and gendarmes were hurt throughout the night between Wednesday and Thursday.
Le RAID utilise des blindés mais également des quads à Lille #Nanterre #Nahel #emeutes pic.twitter.com/6jDmCEp5s7
— Anonyme Citoyen (@AnonymeCitoyen) June 29, 2023
Rioters hurled incendiaries at a police station in Toulouse’s Mirail area.
Several establishments in Marseille’s Old Port were destroyed and plundered.
Approximately 20 masked rioters stormed the Fresnes jail in Val-de-Marne but were unsuccessful in breaking inside the facility.
There was additional violence reported in Bordeaux, Lormont, and Lille.
