The government mobilized 45,000 agents throughout the country to try to quell the violence. During the night, the young protesters clashed with the police, started some 2,500 fires and looted shops.
The funeral for Nahel, who has been identified only by name, began Saturday with a wake. He will later hold a ceremony at a mosque before being buried in a suburban cemetery.
The government suggested that the violence was beginning to subside thanks to the reinforcement of security measures, but the damage continued to be widespread, from Paris to Lyon or Marseille, and even in overseas territories such as French Guiana, where a 54-year-old person died after being hit by a stray bullet.
The national soccer team — including ace Kylian Mbappe, the idol of many of the young people who live in the deprived neighborhoods where the violence is rooted — called for an end to the violence.
“Many of us are from working-class neighborhoods, we also share this feeling of pain and sadness” for the murder of Nahel, said the soccer players in a statement. “Violence does not solve anything (…) there are other peaceful and constructive ways to express themselves”.
Instead, this is a time for “mourning, dialogue and reconstruction,” the note added.
The fatal shooting that killed Nahel was caught on video, fueling tensions between police and young people living in social housing complexes fighting poverty, unemployment and racial discrimination. The ensuing riots have been the worst in France in years and add to the pressure on President Emmanuel Macron, who has urged parents to keep their children off the streets and blamed social media for fueling the violence.
In the early hours of Saturday, Nanterre firefighters put out fires caused by protesters, which left charred remains of vehicles scattered through the streets. In the neighboring suburb of Colombes, rubbish bins were overturned and improvised barricades were erected.
In the port city of Marseille, looters broke into an armory overnight and made off with some parts, according to police. Agents made nearly 90 arrests there, as groups of protesters set cars on fire and smashed store windows to rob inside.
Buildings and vehicles were also vandalized in the eastern city of Lyon, where a third of the roughly 30 arrests made were for theft, police said. Authorities reported fires in the street after an unauthorized protest with more than 1,000 people held hours earlier.
The Interior Ministry reported 994 arrests overnight and more than 2,500 fires. The day before, 917 people had been arrested across the country, 500 buildings were attacked, 2,000 vehicles were burned and dozens of shops were looted.
Despite the increase in arrests, there were fewer arson, burning cars and attacks on police stations across France than the previous night, the ministry said. The head of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, assured that the violence was “much less intense.”
Hundreds of police officers and firefighters were injured, including 79 last night, but authorities did not disclose the number of civilians injured.
The mayor of Nanterre, Patrick Jarry, pointed out that the country has to “drive changes” in the slums.
Despite the government’s repeated calls for calm and reinforcement of the police operation, on Friday there were also violent acts in broad daylight. An Apple store was looted in the eastern city of Strasbourg, where police fired tear gas, and at a Paris shopping mall, the windows of a junk food joint were smashed and officers barred protesters from entering a closed store. , according to the authorities.
In some French overseas territories there were also episodes of violence.
On the small Indian Ocean island of Réunion, some 150 police officers were mobilized after protesters set garbage cans on fire, hurled projectiles at police and damaged cars and buildings, authorities said. In French Guyana, a 54-year-old person died after being hit by a stray bullet Thursday night when protesters fired on officers in the capital, Cayenne, according to officials.
FUENTE: Associated Press
