French protesters erected barricades, lit fires and shot fireworks at police in the streets of some French cities early this morning as tensions mounted over the deadly police shooting of a 17-year-old that has shocked the nation, APA reports citing Guardian.
French security forces arrested 667 people overnight, the Minister of the Interior of France Gérald Darmanin announced.
Armoured police vehicles rammed through the charred remains of cars that had been flipped and set ablaze in the northwestern Paris suburb of Nanterre, where a police officer shot the teenage delivery driver, who is only being identified by his first name, Nahel.
On the other side of Paris, protesters lit a fire at the city hall of the suburb of Clichy-Sous-Bois.
Tens of thousands of police officers have been deployed to quell the protests, which have gripped the country three nights in a row.
“Last night, our police, gendarmes and firefighters again courageously confronted rare violence. In line with my firm instructions, they made 667 arrests,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter
The police officer accused of pulling the trigger on 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”.
The detained police officer’s lawyer said the officer was sorry and “devastated”.
The officer did what he thought was necessary in the moment, attorney Laurent-Franck Lienard told the news outlet.
“He doesn’t get up in the morning to kill people,” Mr Lienard said of the officer, whose name has not been released.
“He really didn’t want to kill. But now he must defend himself, as he’s the one who’s detained and sleeping in prison.”
Tensions started to rise in Nanterre following a peaceful march on Thursday afternoon in honour of Nahel, with smoke billowing from cars and garbage bins set ablaze despite government appeals for calm and vows that order would be restored.
Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the number of officers in the streets would reach 40,000, with 5,000 deployed in the Paris region alone.
“The professionals of disorder must go home,” Darmanin said.
While there’s 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.”
In the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, police sought to disperse violent groups in the city centre, regional authorities said.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on TikTok
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on X
