France: In a fourth day of unrest in France following the fatal police shooting of a teenager, young rioters clashed with police and looted stores on Friday. This increased pressure on President Emmanuel Macron after he pleaded with parents to keep their children off the streets and accused social media of inciting the unrest.
Friday saw blatant daylight violence as well, despite repeated government calls for restraint and tougher policing. Authorities reported that a fast food restaurant's windows were broken in a shopping centre in the Paris area after people tried to break into a shuttered store, and an Apple store was looted in Strasbourg, an eastern city, where police used tear gas.
Marseille, a port city in southern France, was in the midst of its second night of unrest despite initially being spared from the violence that first erupted in the Paris region. Young people started fires, threw projectiles, and looted stores even before it got dark, according to the police.
Nearly 90 people were arrested. Looters broke into a Marseille gun store on Friday night and stole weapons; a man was later detained with a hunting rifle, according to police. The previous night, when they were attacked by about 20 people, two off-duty police officers suffered serious injuries, including one who was stabbed, according to police.
Authorities in Lyon reported that rioters were once more throwing objects at police and setting fires in the suburbs. Following an unofficial protest against police violence that drew about 1,300 people Friday evening, police made 31 arrests in the city centre to prevent the attempted looting of stores.
Additionally, violence was erupting in a few of France's overseas possessions.
Authorities in French Guiana reported that a 54-year-old man was killed by a stray bullet Thursday night when rioters opened fire on police in the nation's capital, Cayenne. Officials reported that protesters on the tiny island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean set trash cans on fire, hurled projectiles at police, and damaged vehicles and structures. On Friday night, 150 officers were stationed there.
Macron decided against issuing a state of emergency, an option that was used in comparable circumstances in 2005, in the face of the escalating crisis that hundreds of arrests and significant police deployments have failed to contain.
Instead, his government intensified its use of law enforcement. An additional 5,000 officers were added to the already significantly expanded police forces on Friday night, bringing the total to 45,000.
Some people had to return from vacation. Gerald Darmanin, the minister, reported that 917 arrests were made by police on Thursday alone, noting their youth (an average age of 17). He claimed that over 300 firefighters and police officers had suffered injuries.
Darmanin also imposed a nationwide ban on all public buses and trams operating at night, as these vehicles have been targeted by rioters.
And he claimed to have warned social media platforms that they cannot permit themselves to be used as platforms for calls to violence.
They were very helpful. Tonight, we'll find out if they're for real. The minister said, "We are going to give them as much information as we can so that, in return, French authorities get the names of people who incite violence.
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He declared, "We will go after anyone who uses these social networks to carry out violent acts." And if we learn that social networks, whoever they may be, disregard the law, we will take all necessary action.
Macron also focused on social media platforms, claiming they are playing a "considerable role" in the violence by broadcasting dramatic images of vandalism and burning cars and buildings. He specifically mentioned TikTok and Snapchat as being used to organise unrest and spread copycat violence.
In order to establish procedures for "the removal of the most sensitive content," Macron said his government would collaborate with technology companies. He added that he expected "a spirit of responsibility" from them.
In order to find and respond to content related to the rioting, Snapchat has increased moderation since Tuesday, according to spokesperson Rachel Racusen.
Just over a year will pass before Paris and other French cities welcome millions of tourists and 10,500 Olympians for the summer Olympic Games. The Olympics are still being prepared, according to the Paris 2024 organisers, who also stated that they are closely monitoring the situation.
The 17-year-old's fatal shooting, which was caught on video, shocked France and sparked long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and underprivileged neighbourhoods. The young man has only been identified by his first name, Nahel.
Macron stated that "it's the parents' responsibility" to keep their children at home and that "young people, sometimes very young," made up a third of those who were detained on Thursday night.
Pascal Prache, the prosecutor in Nanterre, claimed that because Nahel appeared to be so young and was travelling in a bus lane in a Mercedes with Polish licence plates, officers attempted to pull him over. To avoid being stopped, he allegedly ran a red light, which caused him to become stuck in traffic.
After Prache claimed that his preliminary investigation led him to the conclusion that the officer's use of his weapon wasn't legally justified, the police officer accused of pulling the trigger was given a preliminary charge of voluntarily homicide.
Investigating magistrates who have filed preliminary charges have a strong suspicion of wrongdoing but need to look into the matter further before trying the case.
When Nahel attempted to flee, the officer claimed he was afraid for his safety, the safety of his coworker, or the safety of someone else.
Mounia M., Nahel's mother, told France 5 television that while she was upset with the officer, she wasn't upset with the police in general. She stated, "He saw a little Arab-looking kid, and he wanted to take his life," adding that justice should be "very firm."
She argued that a police officer couldn't just point his gun at our kids and kill them.
Compared to the US, France uses firearms less frequently, but last year, French police fatally shot 13 people who refused to comply with traffic stops.
Three additional individuals, including Nahel, perished in similar circumstances this year. The deaths have sparked calls for greater accountability in France, which also experienced racial justice protests following the Minnesota police shooting death of George Floyd.
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According to Nanterre Mayor Patrick Jarry, who also stated that France must "push for changes" in underprivileged areas, Nahel will be buried on Saturday.
In France, which is formally committed to the doctrine of colorblind universalism, discussing race was taboo for many years. Following Nahel's murder, French anti-racism activists complained once more about police conduct in general.
The three weeks of rioting that followed the deaths of 15-year-old Bouna Traoré and 17-year-old Zyed Benna, who were electrocuted while fleeing the police in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois, in 2005, were reminiscent of this week's demonstrations.
