Amid attack on mayor’s house, fires, looting, France sees hundreds more arrested
- The interior ministry said on Sunday that police arrested more than 700 people overnight after around 1,300 the previous night, with many rioters said to be minors
- Despite curfews and overall decline in tension, multiple incidents were recorded, sparked by police killing of a teenager, with rioting also seen in Switzerland
French politicians expressed horror on Sunday after the home of the mayor of a Paris suburb was attacked in a new night of rioting over the killing of a teen by police, even if the violence nationwide was less intense than previous days.
The government of President Emmanuel Macron has been battling five consecutive nights of violent protests since 17-year-old Nahel M. was shot dead in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday by a police officer during a traffic check.
The killing of the youngster, who was of Algerian origin, has revived longstanding accusations of institutional racism within the French police who rights groups say single out minorities during controls.
Seeking to quell what has become one of the biggest challenges to Macron of his presidency, the interior ministry has for the last two nights deployed 45,000 police and gendarmes nationwide, as well as helicopters and armoured vehicles.
The interior ministry said on Sunday that 719 people were arrested overnight, around half the figure from the previous night with intense clashes still reported in several places, including the southern city of Marseille, but calmer elsewhere.
Attention focused on the attack on the home of Vincent Jeanbrun, the right-wing mayor of L’Haÿ-les-Roses outside Paris, which saw a burning car rammed by rioters into the entrance of his house with the aim of it setting fire to the building, prosecutors said.
The mayor’s wife and children, aged 5 and 7, were at home, although the mayor was at the town hall to deal with the riots. The wife was “badly injured” sustaining a broken leg, prosecutors said.