Hundreds more arrested in fifth night of protests in France

The French government has said that hundreds more have been arrested in a fifth night of rioting sparked by the police killing of a 17-year-old boy, as police deployed reinforcements to flashpoint cities around the country.

Protesters have torched cars, damaged infrastructure and clashed with police in an outpouring of rage since an officer shot Nahel M. point blank after the teen allegedly failed to comply with police during a traffic stop on Tuesday in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, France.

A day after Nahel was laid to rest in his home town, the interior ministry said on Sunday police had made 719 arrests overnight, still a provisional tally, after around 1,300 the previous night.

Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said Saturday that 30 percent of those arrested were minors, while Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the average age of those arrested was just 17.

Some 45 police officers or gendarmes were injured, 577 vehicles torched, 74 buildings set on fire and 871 fires set in streets and other public spaces, it said.

While nationwide numbers suggested an overall decline in tension across the country, police still recorded a number of incidents.

'Inexplicable' and 'unforgivable' shooting

The killing of Nahel, who has Algerian origins, was captured on video, which spread on social media and fueled anger over police violence against minorities, exposing severe racial tensions in France.

Yassine Bouzrou, a lawyer for the family, told local media that while all parties needed to wait for the result of the investigation, the images “clearly showed a policeman killing a young man in cold blood”.

“This is a long way from any kind of legitimate defence,” he said, adding the family had filed a complaint accusing the police of “lying” by initially claiming the car had tried to run down the officers.

President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday the deadly police shooting was “inexplicable” and “unforgivable”.

The officer accused of firing on the driver has been arrested on homicide charges, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office said.

After a record 13 deaths from police shootings in France during traffic stops last year, the killing of Nahel is the second fatal shooting in such circumstances this year.

A Reuters news agency tally of fatal shootings in 2021 and 2022 shows the majority of victims were Black or of Arab origin.

Fresh crisis

The mayor of a town south of Paris said rioters had rammed a car into his home on Sunday, injuring his wife and one of his children, and set a fire.

Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun of the town of L'Hay-les-Roses wrote on Twitter that protesters "rammed a car" into his home before "setting a fire" while his family slept.

Prosecutors said they were investigating the incident for attempted murder.

Some 45,000 police were deployed across France Saturday night, the same number as the night before, and backup was dispatched to the previous days' flashpoints, including Lyon, Grenoble and Marseille.

Of the total, 7,000 were concentrated on Paris and its suburbs, including along tourist hotspot the Champs Elysees avenue in central Paris following calls on social media to take rioting to the heart of the capital.

The protests present a fresh crisis for President Emmanuel Macron who had been hoping to press on with his second mandate after seeing off months of protests that erupted in January over raising the pensions age.

In an illustration of the situation's gravity he postponed a state visit to Germany scheduled to begin Sunday.

Travel warning and calls to stop violence

Britain and other European countries have updated their travel advice to warn tourists to stay away from areas affected by the rioting.

China's consulate in Marseille similarly warned its citizens to "be vigilant and exercise caution" after state-run media reported the pelting with stones of a bus carrying Chinese tourists in the southern city.

Iran called on the French government Sunday to "end the violent treatment of its people" following the wave of rioting.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani on Twitter also urged Iranian citizens to "refrain from making unnecessary trips to France" and told those already there to avoid "conflict areas", warning of the "insecure and unpredictable situation".

The French foreign ministry has said any suggestion of systemic discrimination in the police force was "totally unfounded".