French riots appear to be easing on the sixth night following the death of a teenager in a Paris suburb
PARIS (AP) — riots across France The blaze sparked by the police shooting of a 17-year-old seemed to be slowing for the sixth night, but public buildings, cars and municipal garbage cans were the target of fires and vandalism from night to Monday across the country.
A total of 157 arrests were made overnight, according to the Interior Ministry, out of a total of 3,354 arrests since June 27, and attacks included two police stations.
Some 45,000 officers have been deployed across the country to counter violence fueled by anger at discrimination against people with roots in former French colonies and living in low-income neighborhoods. Nahel, the teenager killed last Tuesday, was of Algerian descent and was shot dead in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
Across France, 297 vehicles and 34 buildings were set on fire overnight.
Christophe Ena via Associated Press
A 24-year-old firefighter died of a heart attack while responding to a fire in an underground car park that spread to the apartment building above, according to a statement from Paris police. The cause of the fire is being investigated, the statement said.
A burning car blocked the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses over the weekend, in an unusually personal attack amid fires and vandalism at police stations and city halls.
French President Emmanuel Macron accused social media for spreading the unrest and called on parents to take responsibility for their teenagers. Eric Dupond-Moretti, the justice minister, told France Inter radio that parents who shirked that responsibility “either out of disinterest or willfully” would be prosecuted.
Mohamed Badra/Pool via Associated Press
When asked if he thought the protests had finally died down, he was cautious.
Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said his wife and one of his children were injured and criticized the government for doing too little and too late – saying blaming social media or parents is covering up a bigger problem.
“The basic ingredients are still there. “For several years, explosives have been detonating all summer long, preventing people from sleeping and driving them crazy,” he told BFM television on Monday. “We are powerless summer after summer.”