According to the Minister of the Interior, almost 500 people have been arrested during the night, but the violence has been less than in previous nights.
Rioting has continued in various French cities for the fourth night. However, last night’s events are described as somewhat calmer than previous nights.
There have still been widespread unrest in different parts of the country. In Marseille, for example, almost 90 people have been arrested after shops were looted and cars set on fire. The rioters robbed, among other things, a weapons store.
In Lyon, buildings have been damaged and around 30 people have been arrested. In Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, where the unrest started after the police shot a 17-year-old youth, cars were set on fire.
French Minister of the Interior by Gérald Darman told French media in the early hours of the morning that 471 people had been arrested across the country. According to the BFMTV channel, the minister characterized last night’s violence as milder than before.
The French national football team is its captain Kylian Mbappé appealed to the leadership to end the riots.
The union representing French restaurants and hotels says tourists have started canceling their reservations because of the riots.
The rioting started after police shot dead a 17-year-old boy on Tuesday after trying to stop the car he was driving. The police claimed that it was self-defense, but the videos and eyewitness accounts of the situation do not support the claim.
The shooter has reportedly apologized to the boy’s family.
The boy’s mother has said that the shooter had a racist motive because the boy was Arab.
Sources: AFP, AP