Paris: Even as the first indications of the unrest's easing appeared, demonstrations against nearly a week of violent protests over a teen's fatal shooting by police started on Monday at French town halls.
Since 17-year-old Nahel M. was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop on Tuesday, reviving long-standing accusations of racism against the French police force, the government has battled riots and looting.
A fireman died while attempting to put out fires in burning vehicles north of Paris on the sixth night in a row of unrest, but the Interior Ministry said it was unclear if there was a connection to the tumultuous protests.
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After the home of the mayor of a Paris suburb was struck by a burning car, causing widespread outrage, Monday's protests—dubbed a "mobilisation of citizens for a return to republican order"—took place.
An association of the mayors of the nation noted in a statement that there is "serious unrest everywhere in France, which targets republican symbols with extreme violence."
The Interior Ministry again deployed 45,000 police and gendarmes nationwide from Sunday through Monday in an effort to quell what has grown into one of President Emmanuel Macron's biggest challenges since he took office in 2017. This is the same number as the previous two nights.
According to the Interior Ministry, only 157 people in total were detained in connection with the nationwide unrest — a small portion of those detained the previous evening. Three police officers also sustained injuries.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin noted that some of the 3,200 people detained in connection with rioting since Tuesday were "children, there is no other word, of 12 or 13," and that the average age was 17.
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A police source told AFP that internal affairs investigators started questioning a passenger in the car Nahel was operating illegally on Monday. The 38-year-old police officer who fired the fatal shot and is currently accused of voluntary manslaughter raised more than €930,000 (over $1.0 million) for his family.
The conservative mayor of L'Hay-les-Roses outside of Paris, Vincent Jeanbrun, had his house rammed with a burning car in an attempt to set it on fire, breaking his wife's leg while she was at home with their young children.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin noted that some of the 3,200 people detained in connection with rioting since Tuesday were "children, there is no other word, of 12 or 13," and that the average age was 17.
A police source told AFP that internal affairs investigators started questioning a passenger in the car Nahel was operating illegally on Monday. The 38-year-old police officer who fired the fatal shot and is currently accused of voluntary manslaughter raised more than €930,000 (over $1.0 million) for his family.
The conservative mayor of L'Hay-les-Roses outside of Paris, Vincent Jeanbrun, had his house rammed with a burning car in an attempt to set it on fire, breaking his wife's leg while she was at home with their young children.
According to a police source who requested anonymity, there was probably no connection to the riots: "It would be going too far. It is unlikely that this is the case because the area is not impacted by urban violence.
The grandmother of Nahel, who was of Algerian descent, Nadia, urged restraint on Sunday and claimed that the rioters were only using his death as a "pretext" for their actions. Even though the violence seems to be lessening, there are still uncertainties regarding its causes.
Who would support people smashing and setting things on fire, I ask? In Nahel's hometown of Nanterre, Fatiha Abdouni, 52, the founder of a women's association.
She continued, "Now we have to listen to the young people, their anger and frustration.
Young people in the impoverished suburbs of Paris face "daily difficulties, unequal access to study, to work, to housing," according to Abdouni; the "spark" of Nahel's murder is all that is needed to start the violence.
Tens of millions of euros in emergency support have been announced by regional authorities in the Grand Est region, which borders Germany, the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region, and the greater Paris region of Ile-de-France.
For Macron, who had hoped to continue with his promises for a second term after quelling months of protests that started in January over raising the retirement age, the protests pose a fresh crisis.
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Macron gave the order to "start meticulous and longer-term work to understand in depth the reasons that led to these events" while meeting with important ministers late on Sunday, a presidential official said while requesting anonymity.
According to the Elysee, he will meet with the leaders of the two chambers of parliament on Monday and with the mayors of more than 220 towns affected by the unrest on Tuesday.
With France hosting the Rugby World Cup in the fall and the Paris Olympic Games in the summer of 2024, the most recent unrest has sparked worries abroad.
In a sign of the seriousness of the situation at home, Macron postponed a state visit to Germany that was set to start on Sunday.