Protests continue in France for the fourth day in connection with the murder of 17-year-old Algerian immigrant Nael M, who refused to comply with police demands. On the night of Friday and Saturday, 1,330 people were detained, including more than 400 in Paris and the suburbs of the capital.
Source. This was reported by BFMTV TV channel with reference to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
According to the agency's estimates, 79 police officers were injured, 2,560 fires were recorded on roads and in public places, 1,350 cars, and 234 buildings were burned or vandalized. The protesters also looted dozens of police stations and weapons depots.
The greatest damage was done to shops and municipal services in Lyon, Grenoble, Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, and Bordeaux.
In Lyon, a post office was blown up. In the same city, the rioters used firearms, injuring seven police officers.
At night, a bookstore was looted in Lancey, McDonald's restaurants were burned in Lorraine, and the town hall burned down in Persan.
Security forces responded with tear gas. At least three police officers were wounded by shotgun fire.
In Marseille, an explosion occurred in the Old Port, no injuries were reported. Vandals also damaged the Alcazar library and robbed a gun shop. In addition, footage of a crashed bus with Chinese tourists that came under attack appeared. It is reported that after the incident, the Chinese changed their route and headed towards Switzerland.
The unrest continues, despite the fact that on Friday the authorities deployed 45,000 police officers, as well as armored vehicles and helicopters to resolve the situation. Among other things, the Raid special forces, as well as the Search and Response Brigade, were deployed to suppress the protests, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said. He added that as a result, the violence last night was "less intense".
Background. On June 27, police officers shot and killed a 17-year-old Frenchman of Algerian descent named Nael in the suburbs of Paris. The patrol stopped his car in Nantes for violating traffic rules, after which the teenager refused to comply with the requirements to pass control and tried to escape. One of the police officers shot him at point blank range.
The killing was caught on video. The Interior Minister called it "shocking" and the protesters were supported by French celebrities. The police officer who shot was arrested. Today, July 1, the teenager's funeral is scheduled to take place in France.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the situation "inexplicable and unforgivable" and offered his condolences to the family of the victim. The day before, the head of state held a meeting of the inter-ministerial anti-crisis committee on measures to combat the riots.
Macron has not yet declared a state of emergency in the country, but the Interior Ministry announced the use of "exceptional means" against protesters.
The president said that at least a third of those detained for participating in the riots were young people and minors. In his opinion, the "rhetoric of hatred" is spreading through social networks and messengers, and fans of computer games are taking advantage of the situation to try to repeat their plots in real life.
As one of the ways to resolve the crisis, Macron suggested censoring the Internet. The interior minister has already met with representatives of Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta, saying that they should remove "illegal" messages that call for violence and rebellion.