The 17-year-old was shot by a police officer after being pulled over in a traffic stop Tuesday in Nanterre, a Parisian suburb. Nationwide protests erupted after videos of the incident went viral, spreading from Paris to several cities outside the capital, including Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse.
Almost 1,000 people were detained or arrested on Friday night and 79 police officers were injured, according to preliminary statistics released by France’s Interior Ministry.
The ministry said that Friday night’s tensions were of “lower intensity compared with the previous night.” Some 45,000 police officers were mobilized across the country overnight, and much of the country’s transportation network ground to a halt Friday evening after local officials were ordered to suspend bus and tram services overnight.
While some French regions saw less violence than during previous nights, there were few signs of tensions dissipating in Paris, Lyon, and Marseille — France’s most populous cities — where rioters looted shops and set cars on fire.
The tensions have also spread overseas. On the island of Réunion, a French department in the Indian Ocean, authorities said dozens of people were detained for rioting on Friday night.
Protesters say their anger has been compounded by what they see as an attempted police coverup. While the officer who is suspected of shooting the teen has since been detained, and is under investigation for intentional homicide, the police narrative initially appeared to be that the victim’s car was trying to plow into them. But video footage contradicted the police narrative, showing how an officer appeared to fire a shot as the car pulled away.
President Macron has struggled to contain the unrest, calling attacks on government buildings “unjustifiable” while blaming social media and video games for stirring passions.
He has yet to fully address the mounting calls for more accountability, as well as a tightening of restrictions on when officers can use their weapons. A law passed in 2017 said that officers could shoot at moving vehicles if they deemed them fatally dangerous to themselves or others.
Macron is scheduled to travel to Germany on Sunday for the first state visit by a French president in 23 years but, as of Saturday morning, it appeared uncertain if he would go ahead with the trip.
This moment of high tension comes on the heels of large-scale protests over Macron’s unpopular push to raise the retirement age.
Clara Bolac, a 22-year-old student who in recent months took to the streets with millions of other protesters to oppose Macron’s policies, said she was surprised, but pleased, that Macron was quick to call the shooting “unforgivable.”
But Bolac said Macron now needs to address rioters’ anger that is rooted in a deep sense of injustice.
“In the suburbs, they fear the police every day,” she continued.
The difference this time, she said, is that “for once, it was filmed.”
Adela Suliman in London, Ruby Mellen in Washington and Emily Rauhala in Brussels contributed to this report.
