A man walks past a wall lit by a burning barricade, with a graffiti reading “Police kill” (in French), in central Lyon, central France, on June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani) Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
A group of police officers advance during a protest in Nanterre, on the outskirts of Paris, France, on July 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
People run away during a riot with police in central Lyon, central France, on June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani) Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Underscoring the severity of the crisis, President Emmanuel Macron has canceled an official trip to Germany after a fourth straight night of discontent in France. The authorities reported that they would redeploy 45,000 police officers nationwide in an attempt to avoid a fifth day of violence.
Some 2,400 people have been arrested since the teen’s death on Tuesday. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted late Saturday that 200 riot police officers would be mobilized to the port city of Marseille, where television footage showed tear gas and police on the streets as night fell. Police said 29 people were detained in the town, and at least 37 others were arrested near the Champs-Elysees in Paris, where police vehicles could be seen parked outside luxury stores in one of the most recognized areas of the capital. .
At a hilltop cemetery in Nanterre, the Paris suburb where the teenager identified only as Nahel was murdered, hundreds of people stood along the path to pay respects as mourners carried his white coffin from a mosque. to the burial site, where the presence of the press was prohibited and some reporters were even persecuted. Some men carried prayer rugs.
“Men first,” an official declared to the dozens of women waiting to enter the cemetery. But Nahel’s mother, dressed in white, walked right in to applause and headed for the grave. Many of the men were young Arabs or blacks, who came to mourn the death of a young man who could have been any of them.
Behind the cemetery gates, the coffin was lifted above the crowd and carried to the grave. The men followed him, some holding the hand of small children. Upon leaving, some of them wiped away their tears. Police officers could not be seen at the scene.
Violence is taking its toll on Macron’s diplomatic efforts. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s office said Macron phoned on Saturday to request a postponement of what would have been the first state visit by a French president to Germany in 23 years. Macron was scheduled to fly to Germany on Sunday night to visit Berlin and two other German cities.
Macron’s office noted that the president had a conversation with Steinmeier and “taking into account the internal security situation, the president (Macron) said that he wished to remain in France for the next few days.”
Nahel was shot during a traffic stop. Video showed two officers approaching the car window and one of them pointing his gun at the driver. As the car moved forward, a police officer fired through the windshield. This week, Nahel’s mother told France 5 that she was angry with the officer who shot her son, but not with the police as such.
“He saw an Arab boy, he wanted to take his life,” he stressed.
Nahel’s family has its origins in Algeria.
Race has been a taboo subject for decades in France, which is officially committed to a race-insensitive doctrine of universalism. Opponents claim that such a doctrine has concealed generations of systemic racism.
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Charlton reported from Paris. Associated Press journalists Jade le Deley, in Clichy-sous-Bois, France; Claire Rush, in Portland, Oregon; Jocelyn Noveck, in New York; and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
FUENTE: Associated Press
