Police had arrested 719 people nationwide as of early Sunday after a massive deployment of security forces to quell the country’s worst uprising in years.
The crisis has presented a new challenge to the leadership of President Emmanuel Macron and exposed deep discontent in low-income neighborhoods over discrimination and lack of opportunity.
The 17-year-old, whose death sparked outrage on Tuesday, was laid to rest on Saturday during an Islamic ceremony in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, where emotions over his passing continued to run high. Authorities identified him only by his first name, Nahel.
As night fell on Saturday in the French capital, a small crowd gathered on the Champs-Élysées to protest the death of the teenager and police violence, only to be met by hundreds of officers armed with batons and shields who were guarding the avenue and its streets. boutiques. In a less fashionable neighborhood in northern Paris, protesters set off firecrackers and set barricades on fire as police fired tear gas and flash grenades at them.
A burning vehicle was thrown overnight at the house of the mayor of l’Hay-les-Roses, a suburb of Paris. Several schools, police stations, town halls and shops have been targeted by fire or vandalism in recent days, but an attack on a mayor’s house is rare.
Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said his wife and one of their children were wounded in the attack that occurred at 1:30 a.m. when the family was asleep and he was in City Hall following up on the violence.
Jeanbrun, of the conservative Republican opposition party, said in a statement that the attack represented a new phase of “horror and ignominy” amid the unrest, and called on the government to impose a state of emergency.
According to French media, a prosecutor opened an investigation for attempted murder.
Several skirmishes took place in the Mediterranean city of Marseille but they appeared less intense than the previous night, according to the Interior Ministry. A strong police contingent arrested 55 people in the city.
The arrests were fewer in number than the night before in the rest of the country. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin attributed it to “the resolute action of the security forces.”
In all, more than 3,000 people have been detained since Nahel’s death. The large-scale police deployment was welcomed by some fearful residents of violent neighborhoods and looted shop owners, but frustration grew among those who see police action as at the heart of France’s current crisis.
The tension had a negative impact on Macron’s diplomacy. On Saturday Macron postponed what would have been the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years. Macron was scheduled to fly to Germany on Sunday.
Hundreds of police officers and firefighters were injured in the violence, but authorities have not reported how many protesters are also injured. In French Guiana, an overseas territory, a 54-year-old person was killed by a stray bullet during a protest.
On Saturday, France’s justice minister, Eric Dupond-Moretti, warned young people who compare calls for violence on Snapchat or other apps that could face prosecution. Macron has blamed social networks for the revival of violence.
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Anna reported from Nanterre. Contributing to this report were Jade le Deley in Clichy-sous-Bois, France; Jocelyn Noveck, in New York; and Helena Alves, in Paris.
FUENTE: Associated Press
