Updated 20:47 | Published 20:36
full screen
Next
French President Emmanuel Macron, center, holds a briefing on the unrest rocking the country. Several ministers attend, including the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior.
1 / 2Photo: Mohammed Badra/AP/TT
Over the past two nights, around 45,000 police have been deployed to deal with the violence that is rocking France.
The same number of police officers will continue their work during the night until Monday, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announces.
Overnight on Sunday, police arrested over 700 people – bringing the total to over 3,000 since Tuesday when the unrest escalated.
According to authority assessments, the last night’s violence was less intense than previous nights.
However, a local mayor’s home in Paris was targeted by a car attack. The act was condemned by the country’s Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, who called it “particularly shocking”.
French President Emmanuel Macron earlier on Sunday summoned ministers for a “conciliation meeting” to be held in the evening.
The meeting is attended by Prime Minister Borne, Minister of the Interior Darmanin and Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti, among others.
The unrest in France began as a result of a 17-year-old, Nahel, being shot dead by police in sensational fashion earlier this week.
On Sunday, Nahel’s grandmother went to the media with a call to those participating in the riots to stop vandalizing.
FACT Background: Gave incorrect first image
Two motorcycle police officers stop a car in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on June 27 and the 17-year-old driver, named in French media as Nahel, is shot at close range in the chest and dies.
The police initially stated that the shots had been fired because the 17-year-old was driving the car towards the officers, but a video clip that is spreading on social media shows that the police’s first version is not correct.
“You’re going to get a bullet in the head,” one of the two motorcycle police officers is heard shouting in the clip. They stand next to the car and the gun is aimed through the driver’s seat window. A shot fires off, whereupon the car accelerates rapidly and crashes into a pole some distance away. The driver dies shortly afterwards.
The 38-year-old police officer who is seen holding the gun in the clip is later arrested, suspected of the corresponding murder.
The fatal shooting revives the debate about police violence and discrimination against residents of low-income areas of France.
Read more