French President Emmanuel Macron attended a crisis meeting at the Élysée on Sunday evening after being briefed on the evolution of the riots in recent days. In the fifth night, from Saturday to Sunday, the situation was calmer than the day before, but an attack on a mayor’s house on the outskirts of Paris still caused a stir. “Unacceptable,” said Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, promising “determination” to those responsible.
The French president canceled the state visit he had planned to Germany on Sunday over riots that began Tuesday following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old who was shot by police after he refused to stop at a checkpoint. police in Nanterre. Macron was at the crisis meeting with Borne and seven ministers, including Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, and made no statements at the end.
Even before the meeting, Darmanin announced the deployment of 45,000 police and guards for the third consecutive night. He also said he had given “strict instructions” so that “the arrests are carried out as quickly as possible”, to avoid further confusion. Transport, namely buses and trams, will continue to stop in the Paris region from 9 p.m.
The fifth night of rioting after Nahel’s death, on Tuesday, was quieter than the last. But tempers remained high, especially in Marseille – where violence did not erupt until Friday night. Still, there were 719 arrests nationwide (nearly half of those recorded the day before). Those arrested so far have been subject to summary proceedings, with adults sentenced to three or four months in prison and minors given an “educational” action, requiring parents to compensate any victims of their children.
In addition to the arrests, Saturday night saw a record 577 vehicles and 74 buildings set on fire, as well as 871 fires on public roads. A total of 45 police officers and security guards were injured, according to the Ministry of Interior’s balance sheet. Despite the figures indicating a quieter night than the previous one, there was still a serious incident to report in Val-de-Marne.
The house of the mayor of L’Haÿ-les-Roses was attacked during the night. A car (which was reportedly stolen) was set on fire and driven into the property, where the wife and two young children of Vincent Jeanbrun, elected by “The Republicans. The mayor was in the chamber engaging in yet another night of violence. The woman, on the run, broke a tibia and had surgery yesterday and the children were in shock An attempted murder investigation was opened and the Association of French Mayors called for a protest this Monday in all municipalities of the country, to condemn the violence.
After facing another night of violence, Nahel’s grandmother called for calm. “I ask people who destroy things to stop. Don’t smash windows, don’t destroy schools or buses. Stop! It’s the mothers who take the buses, it’s the mothers who have to walk now”, Nadia referred to BFMTV’s microphones. “We want people to keep calm. Nahel is dead. My daughter had only one child, she is lost, it is over. My daughter has no life left. And me, they made me lose my daughter and my grandson,” she added to it, saying she was “tired” of the situation.
Source: DN
