France riots – live: Children as young as 12 detained for attacking police amid Paris protests
Average age of 3,354 people arrested over past week is 17, says interior minister
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Children as young as 12 or 13 have been detained for attacking law enforcement and setting fires during six nights of violence after the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk in suburban Paris.
The average age of the 3,354 people arrested over the past week was 17, the interior minister Gerald Darmanin said.
In all, 99 town halls have been attacked during the unrest, including an attempt to ram a burning vehicle into the home of l’Hay-les-Les Roses mayor Vincent Jeanbrun. His wife and one of his young children were injured during the attack, which began at the weekend while they slept.
“We saw the real face of the rioters, that of assassins,” Mr Jeanbrun said in an emotional speech. France and “democracy itself” were being attacked in the days of rioting, he said.
Meanwhile, an “insulting” fundraiser set up for the family of the police officer who shot Nahel has amassed more than €1 million (£840,000).
Organised by Jean Messiha, a former adviser to the French far-right politician Marine Le Pen, the appeal has raised far more than the donation page set up for the family of the teenage victim.
Macron due to meet leaders of parliament, town mayors
The riots amount to the worst crisis for Macron since the “Yellow Vest” protests over fuel prices gripped much of France in late 2018.
In mid-April, Macron gave himself 100 days to bring reconciliation and unity to a divided country after rolling strikes and sometimes-violent protests over his raising of the retirement age, which he had promised in his election campaign.
Macron postponed a state visit to Germany to deal with the crisis and had to leave an EU summit early. He is due to meet the leaders of parliament on Monday and more than 220 mayors of towns and cities that have been affected by riots on Tuesday.
Vincent Jeanbrun, the mayor of the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses, whose home was attacked while his wife and children were asleep inside on Saturday, on Monday described the situation as “a real nightmare”.
“We have been going through a state of siege”, Jeanbrun, a member of the centre-right Les Republicains party, told BFM TV on Monday.
“I have myself grown up in L’Hay-les-Roses in these large housing blocks”, he said. “We were modest, we didn’t have much, but we wanted to overcome it, we had hope that we would make it with hard work.”
In Nanterre, in the west of Paris, flowers and other tributes mark the spot where Nahel was shot almost a week ago. Graffiti calls for revenge and criticises the police.
And while tensions were still high, some residents said the material damage to vehicle and businesses should stop.
Forty-nine-year-old Josie Oranger said people who worked hard or borrowed to buy themselves a car or set up a business were being disadvantaged.
“All it takes is one night of trouble, and they’ve lost everything. It’s not their fault, everything that happened.”
The police officer involved has acknowledged firing a lethal shot, the state prosecutor says, telling investigators he wanted to prevent a dangerous police chase. His lawyer Laurent-Franck Lienard has said he did not intend to kill the teenager.
French rioting appears to slow 6 days after teen's death in Paris suburbs
Unrest across France sparked by the police shooting of a 17-year-old appeared to slow overnight after six nights.
In all, according to the Interior Ministry, there were 157 arrests overnight, down from a peak of 3,880 arrests during the fiery night of June 30, and two law enforcement stations were attacked, among other damage.
Around 45,000 officers were deployed nationwide to counter violence fuelled by anger over discrimination against people who trace their roots to former French colonies and live in low-income neighborhoods. Nahel, the teenager killed last Tuesday, was of Algerian descent and was shot in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
Across France, 297 vehicles were torched overnight along with 34 buildings.
French rioting appears to slow 6 days after teen's death in Paris suburbs
Unrest across France sparked by the police shooting of a 17-year-old appeared to slow overnight after six nights
Mother of teenager fatally shot by French police shares last words she exchanged with son
The mother of a 17-year-old who was fatally shot by a French police officer in a Paris suburb has shared the last words she exchanged with her son before he died.
Footage taken by activist Assa Traore shows the mother of the teenager, who has been named as Nahel, describing how she told her “baby” to “be careful” the morning of the day he was shot.
“They took away my baby, he was still a child, he needed his mother,” she said.
Mother of teenager fatally shot by French police shares her last words with son
The mother of a 17-year-old who was fatally shot by a French police officer in a Paris suburb has shared the last words she exchanged with her son before he died. Footage taken by activist Assa Traore shows the mother of the teenager, who has been named as Nahel, describing how she told her "baby" to "be careful" the morning of the day he was shot. "They took away my baby, he was still a child, he needed his mother," she said. The officer has been placed under formal investigation for voluntary homicide.
French politicians respond to ongoing unrest
A burning car struck the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb L’Hay-les-Roses over the weekend, an unusually personal attack amid the backdrop of fires and vandalism targeting police stations and town halls.
French President Emmanuel Macron has blamed social media for the spread of the unrest and called on parents to take responsibility for their teenagers.
Justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti told France Inter radio that parents who abdicate that responsibility “either through disinterest or deliberately” will be prosecuted.
Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said his wife and one of his children were injured and criticised the government for doing too little, too late - and said blaming social media or parents is papering over a bigger problem.
“The base ingredients are still there. For several years now, all summer long, explosives go off that keep people from sleeping, that make them crazy,” he told BFM television on Monday.
“We are powerless summer after summer.”
In pictures: Police guard Champs-Elysees on Sunday
Pictures show heavy police presence on Champs-Elysees on Sunday after Saturday night’s heavy unrest which lead to over 700 arrests.
Overnight arrests slow down in sixth night of violence
Unrest across France sparked by the police shooting of a 17-year-old appeared to slow overnight after six nights.
In all, according to the Interior Ministry, there were 157 arrests overnight, down from a peak of 3,880 arrests during the fiery night of June 30, and two law enforcement stations were attacked, among other damage.
Around 45,000 officers were deployed nationwide to counter violence fuelled by anger over discrimination against people who trace their roots to former French colonies and live in low-income neighborhoods. Nahel, the teenager killed last Tuesday, was of Algerian descent and was shot in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
Across France, 297 vehicles were torched overnight along with 34 buildings.
A burning car stuck the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb L’Hay-les-Roses over the weekend, an unusually personal attack amid the backdrop of fires and vandalism targeting police stations and town halls.
French President Emmanuel Macron has blamed social media for the spread of the unrest and called on parents to take responsibility for their teenagers. Eric Dupond-Moretti, the justice minister, told France Inter radio that parents who abdicated that responsibility “either through disinterest or deliberately” would be prosecuted.
Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said his wife and one of his children were injured and criticized the government for doing too little, too late — and said blaming social media or parents was papering over a bigger problem.
“The base ingredients are still there. For several years now, all summer long, explosives go off that keep people from sleeping, that make them crazy,” he told BFM television on Monday. “We are powerless summer after summer.”
Paris fireman dies in protest blaze
A sixth consecutive night of rioting across France saw a young Paris fireman die as he tried to put out a blaze in an underground car park today.
The 24-year-old, who has not been named, was on Monday part of an emergency operation in the troubled northern suburb of Saint-Denis.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, said: “Overnight, while fighting against a blaze involving several vehicles in an underground car park in Saint-Denis, a young Corporal-Chief of the Paris Fire Brigade died despite very rapid treatment by his teammates.”
The ongoing violence saw 157 arrests between Sunday and Monday, said Mr Darmanin.
Travellers to France advised not to cancel trips but to avoid cities at night
Holidaymakers have been advised by a travel expert not to cancel their trips to France following five nights of unrest but to stay “flexible” and avoid big cities at night-time.
Rioting has spread across the country following the fatal shooting by police of 17-year-old boy Nahel in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday.
The UK Government updated its guidance for travellers to France to warn of “potential disruption” but it does not advise against travel to the country.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay encouraged people considering travelling to France to check the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for updated advice.
Travellers to France advised not to cancel trips but to avoid cities at night
Rioting has spread across the country following the fatal shooting by police of a 17-year-old boy.
Where are the riots in France and why are they happening?
The 17-year-old victim, Nahel Merzouk, was driving a car on Tuesday morning when he was pulled over for breaking traffic rules, prosecutors said. The teenager was too young to hold a full driving license in France.
Police initially reported that one officer had shot at the teenager because he was driving his car towards him. But this version of events was quickly contradicted by a video circulating on social media.
On Thursday, The Nanterre prosecutor said that witness statements, CCTV video footage, amateur video footage, and statements from police offers were being used to piece together the timeline of events from Tuesday morning.
Where are the French riots and why are they happening?
The shooting of the 17-year-old teenager has sparked outrage in a number of cities
Macron’s delays historic state visit to Germany as unrest continues in France
President Emmanuel Macron chaired a special security meeting on Sunday as protests continued for a sixth night in France after the killing of a teenager in Paris.
Mr Macron delayed the start of the first state visit to Germany in 23 years as rioting and violence continued across the country.
An official present at the security meeting said Mr Macron plans to meet with the leaders of both houses of parliament on Monday, followed by discussions with mayors in the 220 towns and cities affected by the protests.
He also wants to start a detailed, longer-term assessment of the reasons that led to the unrest - which exposed deep-seated discontent in low-income neighbourhoods - the official told Associated Press.
According to the interior ministry, 78 arrests were made nationwide on Sunday - a sharp drop in the 719 in the previous 24 hours which took the total to more than 3,000 since the shooting of the 17-year-old, who has been identified only as Nahel, in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
He was laid to rest in a Muslim ceremony on Saturday with his grandmother calling for an end to the violence.
The office of interior minister Gerald Darmanin said 45,000 police officers would again be deployed in the streets which saw a burning car hit the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses.
Skirmishes erupted in the Mediterranean city of Marseille on Sunday, but appeared less intense than the night before, according to the interior ministry.
And in the South American overseas territory of French Guiana, a 54-year-old died after being hit by a stray bullet.
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