France experienced another night of riots in the Paris region as well as in several large cities after the tragedy of Nahel’s death. Tuesday, June 27 in the morning, the 17-year-old was killed by a police officer because of a refusal to comply in Nanterre in the Hauts-de-Seine, during a traffic check. Clashes between residents and police had already erupted in the city of Nanterre from the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
The clashes continued even more violently overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, spreading in many municipalities in Île-de-France but also in Toulouse, Dijon, in the metropolis of Lyon… The Paris police headquarters (which concerns the capital and the three departments of the inner suburbs) carried out 35 arrests, according to a report communicated before 2 a.m. Thursday, against 31 throughout France the previous night. According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, 150 people were arrested throughout the territory during the night. Emmanuel Macron convened an interministerial crisis unit (CIC) on Thursday to be held at 8 a.m. at the Ministry of the Interior. The Express updates on the latest information.
The revolt continues in Nanterre
Rather calm at the start of the evening, the situation then became particularly tense in Nanterre. More than a dozen cars and a number of garbage cans were set on fire, and barriers were placed on the road, AFP journalists noted. The walls of a building were tagged with the words “Justice for Nahel” and “Police kill”. Clashes continued until the middle of the night in the Pablo-Picasso city, with the throwing of cobblestones to which the police responded by firing tear gas. Clashes continued until the middle of the night in the Pablo-Picasso city, with the throwing of cobblestones to which the police responded by firing tear gas.
Explosion of violence in the Parisian suburbs
Incidents also broke out in several towns in Hauts-de-Seine. In Clamart, a tram train was set on fire. In Seine-Saint-Denis, many abuses were committed by groups of very mobile rioters. Police sources told AFP of multiple car and store fires, looting, attacked police stations, degraded town halls, a burned media library… Almost all the municipalities in the department were affected. In Essonne, a group of people destroyed a bus by fire around 9:00 p.m., after bringing passengers down to Viry-Châtillon.
The clashes spread to the rest of France
Clashes also broke out shortly after 8:00 p.m. at Mirail in Toulouse, where several vehicles were set on fire and police and firefighters received projectiles. In several districts of Dijon, the authorities have reported burnt garbage containers and firework rockets. In Lyon and its agglomeration, as in Vénissieux, Bron and Villeurbanne, the police were targeted by fireworks mortars. In Vaulx-en-Velin, the police station was targeted. Tensions have also been identified in Roubaix, Amiens and Nice. Some incidents, such as in Saint-Etienne, Lille and Rennes, took place on the sidelines of rallies in support of the Earth Uprisings, a recently dissolved environmental movement.
Calls for calm are increasing
As of Wednesday morning, however, the town hall of Nanterre had begged to put an end to a “destructive spiral”. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, had announced the mobilization for Wednesday evening of 2,000 police and gendarmes in Paris and its inner suburbs, 800 more than last night. Calls for calm rang out from all sides, and the public authorities multiplied their speaking out to prevent the contagion of violence. President Emmanuel Macron referred to an act by the police officer as “inexplicable” and “inexcusable”, words which have been criticized by the far right and police unions.
Investigation and white march to avoid conflagration
The authorities now hope to contain the conflagration of working-class neighborhoods thanks to developments in the investigation and a white march Thursday in Nanterre after the death of Nahel. The victim’s mother called in a video for a white march Thursday at 2:00 p.m. in front of the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture, very close to the scene of the fatal shooting, expressing her “revolt for (her) son”.
The 38-year-old policeman suspected of the fatal shooting was questioned by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) as part of an investigation into intentional homicide opened by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office. His police custody was extended on Wednesday, in “the perspective of an opening of judicial information envisaged” Thursday, according to the prosecution. The case has reignited controversy over the action of law enforcement in France, where a record number of 13 deaths were recorded in 2022 after refusals to comply during traffic checks.