Emmanuel Macron interrupted a European Council meeting in Brussels for crisis talks due to unrest. Photo: Yves Herman/Poole via AP
After For three months, fighting huge protests against his pension reform, Macron promised «100 days of appeasement, unity, ambition and action in the service of France.»
Hoped that public anger would subside when the time came for July 14 and its famous Bastille Day parade and fireworks.
But just two weeks before the anniversary of the revolution in France, the word «appeasement» is hardly the first thing that comes to mind when characterizing the mood of a nation.
Loud explosions set fire to a swimming pool built for next year's Olympic Games near Paris.
A bus depot with a dozen burned buses was set on fire nearby in Aubervilliers.
In another suburb of Paris, Noisy-le-Grand, a local high school was attacked. «It's the end of school!» one rioter chuckles.
The violence was not limited to the suburbs, the suburbs surrounding the city. The historic center of Paris was also hit by fireworks, with the acrid smell of smoke and fires filling the streets of the City of Light on Friday night.
Social media was flooded with films of raging fires and looting, as well as images of Nike and Zara flagship affiliates looted on Rivoli Street, the Parisian equivalent of London's Oxford Street.
Protesters clashed with police at Porte d'Aix in Marseille. Photo: Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty Images
The situation was just as chaotic in provincial France. A library was set on fire in Marseille. In Roubaix, near the Belgian border, a hotel caught fire.
After attacks on police stations, schools and other “symbols of the Republic”, rioters are increasingly turning their attention to looting with rammed ATMs. as well as restaurants, pharmacies, hairdressers, tax authorities, tobacconists and service stations are all treated as fair game.
While most of the attacks took place at night, on Friday afternoon many young people smashed shop windows in an Apple store in the center of Strasbourg in eastern France in an attempt to loot its products. The police managed to beat them off when explosions were heard.
“It’s like we’re at war,” said resident Marie-Thérèse.
Overall, according to Macron, a total of 492 buildings were damaged, about 2,000 cars. burned, and 3,880 fires broke out across the country.
About 40,000 police and gendarmes, as well as elite raiding units and GIGNs, were deployed to several cities in one night, curfews were imposed in municipalities around Paris, and public gatherings were banned in Lille and Tourcoing in the north.
Despite the massive deployment of security forces, violence and destruction continue unabated in many areas. Interior Ministry figures overnight on Friday showed 875 people were arrested overnight and 249 police officers were injured, none seriously injured.
The riots are taking place almost a year before the Paris Olympics. Credit: Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes
With a year before the Paris Olympics, slick police, buildings set on fire and shops looted are hardly the type of PR Macron was hoping for as he seeks to build France's image abroad.
On Friday, Germany expressed «concern» about the unrest, and Norway advised citizens to «avoid gatherings.»
The Interior Ministry, before it could declare a state of emergency, announced that bus and tram services would be stopped across the country at 21:00: 00 from Friday, and the sale of large fireworks will be prohibited.
Regional prefects in charge of security across the country have also been asked to ban the sale and transport of cans of gasoline, acids and other flammable liquids.
As the British have been warned of the travel restrictions, many tourists have already taken evasive action , canceling trips.
Hotels across France are experiencing «a wave of cancellations in all areas affected by this damage and these clashes,» according to UMIH, the country's main hotel hub. union.
After crisis talks, the French president promised the police «additional funds» in addition to the huge number of people who took to the streets on Friday. These will include 14 Gendarmerie-owned Centaure armored vehicles.
However, in extremely vitriolic criticism of the government's actions so far, the Alliance National Police and the UNSA Police, two of France's leading police unions, have come out against suggesting that it was too flippantly:
French police union box
Marine Tondelier, head of the French Green Party, called the statement «a call for civil war.» Sandrine Rousseau, Green MP, called it «a threat of rebellion.»
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a left-wing politician, said: «Unions that call for civil war must learn to be quiet. We've seen the killer behavior that this kind of talk leads to. Political forces must take control of the police. Who wants peace, do not add fuel to the fire!”
Macron's camp did not mention it, but on Friday the president urged parents to keep child rebels out of the streets, saying roughly a third of those arrested overnight for the riots were «young or very young» — aged 14 or older. and 18.
He told reporters: “Parents have an obligation to keep them at home. The state should not act in their place.”
Mr Macron then targeted social media providers, notably Snapchat and TikTok, urging them to remove the “most sensitive” riot-related content in a “spirit of accountability.”
He said young people used the apps to organize «violent gatherings» and the vandalism graphics «evoke a form of copycat violence.»
«Sometimes we get the feeling that some of them are living in street video games . who intoxicated them,” he added.
He also said authorities would seek the identity of any social media users who incite violence.
Muniya, the mother of the teen who was shot, mourned the loss of her son on a march in his honor. Photo: Abdulmonam Eassa/Getty Images. Channel France 5: “I don't blame the police. I blame one person: the one who took my son's life.»
She said the 38-year-old officer, who was detained and charged with manslaughter on Thursday, «saw an Arab face.» , a small child, and wanted to take his life.”
The government is desperate to avoid a repeat of the 2005 urban riots caused by the deaths of two black boys during a police chase that resulted in 6,000 arrests.
Critics say little has been done to improve relations. with the French police and fight institutional racism.
In a scathing indictment, the UN Human Rights Office suggested that this week's murder of a teenager of North African descent was «a moment for the country to seriously address the serious issues of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement agencies.
The French Foreign Ministry dismissed the claim as «totally unfounded».
Paris police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators during the march protest against the shooting of a teenager. Photo: Benjamin Girette/Bloomberg.
Nahel was killed while driving away from the police, who tried to stop him for a traffic violation.
The video shows two policemen standing. next to a stationary car, one of which is pointing a gun at the driver.
A voice is heard saying, «You'll get shot in the head.»
The policeman then opened fire as the car abruptly drove away.
Laurent-Franc Linard, a police officer's lawyer, told BFMTV on Thursday that his client apologized when he was taken into custody.
«The first words he uttered were an apology, and his last words were to apologize to his family,» he said.
Nahel's funeral will take place on Saturday in Nanterre.< /p>
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