Title: Macron to Hold Crisis Meeting as Protests Continue over Police Shooting of Teenager
Date: [Date]
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a crisis meeting of ministers in response to the ongoing nationwide protests triggered by the fatal police shooting of a teenager. The protests, which have entered their third straight night, have seen riots, arson attacks, and numerous arrests.
According to France’s Interior Ministry, 875 people were arrested overnight Thursday into Friday. The protests are in response to the death of 17-year-old Nahel, whose first name has been used for identification purposes. The incident has reignited longstanding grievances regarding policing and racial profiling in low-income and multiethnic suburbs.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has described Thursday night as a night of “rare violence.” The ministry reported that 249 police and gendarmes were injured during the protests, although none of the injuries were serious.
To control the situation, around 40,000 police and gendarmes, as well as elite Raid and GIGN units, were deployed in various cities. Curfews have been implemented in municipalities around Paris, and bans on public gatherings have been imposed in Lille and Tourcoing in the north.
Despite the heavy security presence, reports of violence and damage have emerged from multiple areas. Rather than pitched battles between protesters and law enforcement, Thursday’s unrest was characterized by the looting of shops, including flagship branches of Nike and Zara in Paris. Public buildings, including a police station in Pau and an elementary school and district office in Lille, were also targeted.
President Macron has cut short his trip to Brussels to chair a crisis meeting on the violence, marking the second emergency talks held in as many days.
The protests were triggered by the fatal shooting of Nahel during a traffic stop on Tuesday, which was captured on video. In her first media interview since the incident, Nahel’s mother, Mounia, expressed that she does not blame the police but rather holds one person responsible for her son’s death. The 38-year-old officer responsible for the shooting was detained and charged with voluntary manslaughter on Thursday.
In an attempt to restore calm, bus and tram services in Paris were halted after 9:00 pm local time on Thursday. However, these measures, along with increased security, have seemingly done little to deter the unrest.
Clashes and vandalization of public buildings were reported in Marseille, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Roubaix. In Nanterre, tensions escalated with fireworks and explosives being set off in the district where Nahel lived.
The French government is eager to avoid a repeat of the 2005 urban riots, during which 6,000 people were arrested following the deaths of two boys of African origin in a police chase.
President Macron has called for calm and denounced the protest violence as “unjustifiable.” These riots pose a new challenge for the president, who had been attempting to move past the major demonstrations sparked by a controversial increase in the country’s retirement age.
International attention has also turned to the protests. The UN human rights office has called on France to address the issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement and to investigate any allegations of disproportionate use of force.
As the crisis continues, France anticipates further developments in the ongoing protests against police violence and alleged racial profiling.