France riots: 600 people arrested, 200 cops left injured as violence continues on third night
Image from Paris riots
More than 600 people have been arrested in France as violent protests continued another night following the killing of a 17-year-old boy by an on-duty police officer. Euronews reported that overnight from Thursday to Friday saw massive looting, fires and damageto public properties. Among cities that witnessed heavy protests were Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon, Grenoble, Annecy, Toulouse and Saint-Etienne.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who spent the last night partying away at an Elton John concert, labelled the violence as “unjustifiable".
Why the protests are happening in France?
The violent protests were triggered by the shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M at point-blank range by a police officer as he reportedly tried to drive away from a traffic stop in Nanterre, a Paris suburb. The officer has now been charged with homicide, with prosecutors saying that the use of the firearm was completely unjustified.
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The mother of the deceased teen was quoted by the media as saying that she didn’t blame the whole police force for the death of her son, but the officer who fired at Nahel.
Watch:Third night of violence in France: Protesters burn cars & clash with cops
"He saw the face of an Arab, of a little kid, he wanted to take his life," she said.
40,000 police officers deployed
Earlier, French authorities had mobilised 40,000 police and riot officers, including the elite Raid squad to quell the protests across cities, but to no avail. The country’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin later informed on Twitter that more than 650 people were arrested by police so far. “Last night, our police, gendarmes and firefighters again courageously confronted rare violence. In line with my firm instructions, they made 667 arrests," he wrote.
As usually happens in violent riots, several clashes erupted between police officers and demonstrators, leaving more than 200 officers injured.
Loot and violence in the name of protests
According to police reports, shops and businesses in Paris were vandalised and looted. In the suburb of Drancy, rioters used a truck to forcefully enter a shopping centre, which was later looted and set ablaze.
There were also instances of public buildings being targeted, such as a police office in Pau where Molotov cocktails were thrown, and a town hall in Lille that was subjected to stone-pelting.
In the city of Nanterre, where Nahel was from, the Pablo Picasso estate experienced a third consecutive night of violent incidents. Burnt cars, firework mortars, and homemade grenades were used, as observed by an AFP journalist.
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