The attack against the house of a mayor caused a commotion this Sunday in France, where the riots caused by the death of a 17-year-old boy at the hands of the police continue, although the violence was less intense than the previous nights.
In a sign of the magnitude of the crisis, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced a meeting on the situation this Sunday evening with his Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Justice.
France is experiencing a wave of violence since the publication of the video of the death of Nahel, a young man who died Tuesday from a point-blank shot of a policeman during a traffic control, on Tuesday in Nanterre, near Paris.
The anger degenerated into riots in France and outrage beyond its borders, especially in Algeria, where the family of the dead youth hails from.
One of the most serious incidents occurred in a small town in the suburbs of Paris, L’Haÿ les Roses, where aA car crashed early Sunday morning into the mayor’s house and then it caught fire.
The wife and one of their two small children were slightly injured, while the mayor, Vincent Jeanbrun of the right-wing party Los Republicanos, was in town hall to coordinate the response to the riots.
The mayor denounced an “assassination attempt”.
According to the prosecution, the first indications indicate that “the vehicle was launched with the intent to burn down the house“.
The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, described the attack as “intolerable” and traveled to L’Haÿ les Roses from where she stated that the government “will not let any type of violence pass.”
The Association of Mayors of France (AMF) called a rally on Monday at 12:00 (10:00 GMT) in front of municipalities across the country.
According to the president of the AMS, David Lisnard, since Tuesday “150 city halls or municipal buildings have been attacked“.
The Interior Ministry announced a total of 719 arrests across the country early Sunday, in particular for carrying objects that can be used as weapons or projectiles.
At dawn on Saturday the figure had been 1,300 detainees, the highest since Tuesday.
“Quieter night thanks to determined action by law enforcement“said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
Despite this, some 45 police officers and gendarmes were injured, 577 vehicles and 74 buildings were set on fire and 871 fires were recorded on public roads, the ministry said on Sunday.
For the second night in a row, the minister mobilized 45,000 police and gendarmes, including 7,000 in Paris and the suburbs of the capital, with significant reinforcements in Marseille (south) and Lyon (central east), the main cities affected the day before by clashes. , destruction and looting.
Macron, who on Saturday decided to postpone his state visit to Germany, is experiencing his second major crisis in a few months after the demonstrations against the pension reform.
concern abroad
Violence in France, which will host the Rugby World Cup this year and the Olympic Games in 2024, worries abroad.
Several countries advised their citizens not to travel to areas affected by violence.
The The UN warned on Friday of the “deep” problems of “racism and racial discrimination” among the French security forces, considerations that the government considered “totally unfounded”.
Violence and anger Young people from popular neighborhoods remember the riots that shook France in 2005, after the death of two teenagers pursued by the police.
In Marseille, on avenue Canebière, a large number of police, with the support of elite units managed to disperse the youth groups that the day before caused chaos, AFP journalists said.
“They came especially to vandalize everything, steal and then leave,” said Youcef Bettahar, a shopkeeper at the Whiting shopping centre.
In Paris, the police deployed an important device on the avenue des Champs-Élysées, where the shop windows were protected with wooden planks.
In an attempt to stem the spiral of violence, many French municipalities have imposed a curfew. and they prohibited the circulation of buses and trams from 9:00 p.m.
The dead teenager was buried on Saturday in Nanterre, near Paris, during a “very quiet” ceremony, a witness told AFP.
The 38-year-old police officer who shot him has been in custody since Tuesday, charged with voluntary manslaughter.