France Unrest: 1 Dead, 45,000 Troops Deployed in Ongoing Crisis
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Violent Unrest Spreads for Fourth Day in France Following Tragic Police Killing of Teen from North African Descent. 1 Fatality Reported, 45,000 Troops Mobilized to Contain Arson and Looting by Youngsters.
Overnight clashes between rioters and police result in more than 900 arrests. (Image Source: NewsDrum)
France witnessed continued large-scale violence on the fourth day as young rioters clashed with police, vandalized public property, and looted shops, including an Apple store. The unrest, sparked by the tragic police killing of a teenager of North African descent earlier in the week, showed no signs of abating.
The riots originated in Nanterre, where the 17-year-old boy, Nahel M, was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop. The officer has been charged with voluntary homicide.
President Emmanuel Macron refrained from declaring a state of emergency, instead blaming video games for the unrest and urging parents to keep their teenagers at home. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reported over 1,100 arrests, with an average age of 17 years old.
TOP POINTS OF THE FRANCE RIOTS
1. During the riots in France, an Apple store in Strasbourg was ransacked by rioters who entered from another side despite police efforts to block access to the shopping mall. The rioters broke the store’s windows, prompting shoppers to seek refuge in nearby shops.
(Photo: AFP)
Police used tear gas to disperse the rioters. Additionally, the Strasbourg opera house canceled its Friday evening performance as the building’s entrance was also vandalized.
2. In Marseille, riots persisted for a second night as young individuals engaged in acts of violence, including hurling projectiles at the police, setting fires, and looting shops. During the unrest, a gun shop was vandalized, and weapons were stolen.
Subsequently, a man carrying a hunting rifle was apprehended by the police. In the city, a total of 90 arrests have been made thus far. In a separate incident, two off-duty police officers were injured in an attack by a group of 20 individuals, with one officer being stabbed.
3. Riots in Lyon, the third-largest city in France, escalated as rioters clashed with police in the suburbs, engaging in acts of violence such as setting fires and pelting stones at officers.
In response to an unauthorized protest against police violence attended by over 1,300 people, police arrested 31 individuals who attempted to loot shops.
4. The unrest extended beyond mainland France, with violent clashes occurring in French Guiana, where a 54-year-old person died from a stray bullet during confrontations in the capital, Cayenne. Similar violence took place in Reunion, an Indian Ocean island, where protesters set fires, damaged property, and threw projectiles at police.
5. The French government is considering various options, including the declaration of a state of emergency, to restore order. In an effort to quell the riots, an additional 5,000 personnel were deployed, bringing the total to 45,000 police officers and armored vehicles stationed in affected areas. The Interior Minister, Darmanin, ordered the shutdown of all public buses and trams at night in response to widespread arson.
6. Following his return from a European Union summit in Brussels, Emmanuel Macron attended a second cabinet meeting where he urged social media giants to remove “sensitive” footage of the unrest and reveal the identities of those inciting violence. Interior Minister Darmanin met with representatives from Meta, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok, reiterating the same request to remove disturbing content related to the riots.
7. The burial of Nahel, the teenager of Algerian and Moroccan descent who was killed, is scheduled for Saturday according to Nanterre Mayor Patrick Jarry. Nahel’s mother expressed anger towards the officer responsible for her son’s death but not towards the police in general, calling for justice to be firm.
8. In response to the ongoing situation, several countries, including the US and the UK, have updated their travel advisories for individuals traveling to France, cautioning about the riots and advising monitoring of the media, avoiding affected areas, and following local authorities’ advice.
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