About 180 people in France have been arrested as the country has been rocked with violent riots after a police officer shot a 17-year-old boy in a suburb of Paris.
On Tuesday, 17-year-old Nahel M. was shot during a confrontation with police after they attempted to stop a vehicle he was in. Following the shooting, cities across France filled with protesters, with some turning violent. Dozens of cars and buildings were set on fire as police headquarters were targeted for violence.
“The professionals of disorder must go home,” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said. “There will be a lot more police and gendarmes present tonight.”
Footage online showed the fires as rioters took to the streets and set off fireworks.
Situation extrêmement tendue à #Nanterre. pic.twitter.com/WGtOt5MCCC
— Remy Buisine (@RemyBuisine) June 28, 2023
Un bâtiment de construction en feu à #Nanterre. pic.twitter.com/GWWrbLFMhZ
— Remy Buisine (@RemyBuisine) June 29, 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron said that the unrest was “absolutely unjustifiable.”
About 40,000 police officers have been activated to deal with the violence, and Darmanin said France had witnessed “a night of intolerable violence against symbols of the Republic.” He said that about 170 officers had been injured so far during the violence.
Tensions toujours très importantes à 1H45 à Nanterre pic.twitter.com/Pp15EUG1zE
— Remy Buisine (@RemyBuisine) June 28, 2023
According to early reports of the precipitating incident, police attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle Nahel M. was in, but he did not stop and drove through a red light. Police later caught up to the vehicle, then stuck in traffic, and told Nahel M. to get out. As the car attempted to drive away, an officer shot the teen, Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said.
The officers said they were “threatened” by the car and concerned it might hit someone, Prache said. The prosecutor said, according to his assessment, “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met.”
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Activists have claimed that the shooting is part of a pattern of violence by French police against minorities.
The shooting, which was condemned by top French officials including Macron, will be investigated by two magistrates. The officer responsible for the shooting has been suspended pending an investigation.
“An act like the one that we saw, if the investigation confirms the videos that we have seen, is never justified,” Darmanin said of the shooting.
A French police union responded to the public condemnation by saying that the officers “like any citizen, have the right to the presumption of innocence,”