PARIS, July 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mayors across France held rallies calling for an end to violent clashes that erupted after a teen was shot dead by police last week, as signs emerged that the unrest was beginning to ease.
The government has battled riots and looting since 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk was killed by an officer during a traffic stop on Tuesday, rekindling long-standing accusations of systemic racism among security forces.
Monday’s demonstrations calling for a “return to republican order” came after the home of the mayor of a Paris suburb was rammed by a burning car, prompting widespread outrage.
“Democracy itself has been attacked … this can’t continue and it won’t,” said Vincent Jeanbrun, the conservative mayor of L’Hay-les-Roses, whose home was attacked early Sunday.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the deployment of 45,000 police and gendarmes would be maintained on Monday and Tuesday nights.
“The priority is to ensure the return to order,” she announced.
President Emmanuel Macron visited a police barracks in the capital’s 17th Arrondissement on Monday night, “assuring them of his support” in his first outings on the scene since the protests erupted, a source in his office said.
Authorities reported a sharp decline in incidents nationwide, with just 11 arrests in Paris and its suburbs as of 10pm, the police department said.
A total of 157 people had been arrested overnight Sunday to Monday – a small fraction of the number held the night before. Three police officers were also hurt.
Some 3,900 people have been arrested since Friday, including 1,244 minors, the justice ministry said.
But, in a move which could spark fresh anger, a collection for the family of the policeman who fired the fatal shot – now charged with voluntary manslaughter – topped €1 million (US$1.1 million).
Politicians from the ruling centrist party condemned the collection – organised by a far-right figure – as “indecent” and dangerous.
The home of Jeanbrun, mayor of L’Hay-les-Roses, was rammed with a burning car, and his wife broke her leg as she escaped with her children aged five and seven.
The attack was widely condemned, with prosecutors opening an attempted murder investigation.
The rioting caused some €20 million in damage to public transport in the Paris region alone, the regional operator said Monday. This included dozens of burned buses and a torched tramway.
The Medef business association meanwhile estimated damage of “over a billion euros” to companies, with more than 200 businesses looted and 300 bank offices destroyed. — NNN-AGENCIES
