Paris. After a 17-year-old boy was shot dead by police during a traffic stop in France, violent protests have continued across the country. So far, more than 600 people have been arrested. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has called a high-level emergency meeting. French Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne has said the government is considering all options to restore order, including declaring a state of emergency. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said at least 600 people had been arrested in the demonstrations that took place from Thursday night to Friday morning. More than 200 French police were also injured in this violence.
BFMTV quoted Paris police as saying that more than half of the arrests were made in the Paris region. CNN reported that the protests continued for the third day on Thursday. Special police forces were deployed in the cities of Bordeaux, Lyon, Roubaix, Marseille, and Lille to control the violence. The French Interior Ministry has also approved the deployment of additional police forces to prevent violence in Paris and surrounding cities. However, there has been no thought of calling the army.
Nahel M was shot dead by a police officer in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday. The police said that after Naheil refused to stop the traffic police, he started running when the police opened fire. According to footage from Nantair, ‘Revenge for Nahel’ was painted on the walls of Nantair amid the burnt ruins. A bank was also set on fire in Nanterre, and police detained several people for questioning after a memorial to the boy turned violent.
Meanwhile, a CNN report quoted BFMTV as saying that protesters in Marseille threw bombs at police officers. Videos from the northern city of Lille showed street fires burning and riot police officers fleeing. The regional authority said six people were taken in for questioning after they took part in a protest banned by authorities in Lille. Buses and tramways in Lille were closed after 8 pm, while a curfew was imposed in several suburbs of Paris.
Bus and tram services were suspended in many parts of Paris from Thursday night. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry plans to deploy 40,000 police officers nationwide, including 5,000 in Paris. French authorities have claimed that 40 cars were set on fire and 24 police officers were injured in clashes when the riots first broke out on Tuesday night. Nahel is the second person to be killed by police during a traffic stop in France this year. Last year, a record 13 people died in this way.
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