Fiery protests grip France for third night over deadly police shooting of teenager
More than 400 people were arrested overnight around the country and around 200 police officers were injured, according to police
Fiery protests grip France for third night over deadly police shooting of teenager
Nanterre (France): French protesters erected barricades, lit fires and shot fireworks at police in the streets of some French cities overnight as tensions mounted over the deadly police shooting of a 17-year-old that has shocked the nation. Armored police vehicles rammed through the charred remains of cars that had been flipped and set ablaze in the northwestern Paris suburb of Nanterre, where a police officer shot the teen, who is only being identified by his first name, Nahel.
On the other side of Paris, protesters lit a fire at the city hall of the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. The French capital also saw garbage bins set ablaze and some store windows smashed.
In the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, police sought to disperse violent groups in the city center, regional authorities said.
Tens of thousands of police officers were deployed to quell the protests, which have gripped the country three nights in a row. More than 400 people were arrested overnight around the country and around 200 police officers were injured, according to a national police spokesperson. No information was available about injuries among the rest of the population. Schools, town halls and police stations were targeted by people setting fires, and police used tear gas, water cannons and dispersion grenades against rioters, the spokesperson said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 40,000 officers would be deployed overnight Thursday to Friday, with 5,000 in the Paris region alone.
“The professionals of disorder must go home,” Darmanin said. While he said there’s no need yet to declare a state of emergency — a measure taken to quell weeks of rioting that followed the accidental death of two boys fleeing police in 2005 — he added: “The state’s response will be extremely firm.”
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