Over 1,300 arrested in France in 4th night of protests over fatal police shooting of teen Nahel M.
Written by ABC AUDIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on July 1, 2023
(PARIS) — Riots erupted for a fourth night across France over the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M., who was laid to rest on Saturday.
More than 1,300 people were arrested overnight throughout the country, according to the French Ministry of the Interior, as cars and buildings were set ablaze and stores looted. The damage was widespread, from Paris to Marseille and Lyon, with about 2,500 fires set, officials said.
Dozens of police officers and firefighters were injured overnight, as some 45,000 police officers were deployed in France to quell potential violence, officials said. It’s unclear how many protesters were injured.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters that 45,000 police and gendarmes will again be mobilized Saturday evening.
The violent unrest in France kicked off after the teen was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic check in the northwestern Paris suburb Nanterre on Tuesday morning.
Lawyers for the victim’s family, who have roots in Algeria, identified him as Nahel M. A funeral for Nahel was held on Saturday in Nanterre. Mourners gathered at a mosque and on the street outside the cemetery to pay their respects.
Amid the unrest, the French government canceled large-scale events around the country on Friday. French President Emmanuel Macron appealed to parents to keep their children at home, noting that many of the protesters are young people.
On Saturday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s office said Macron called to postpone what would have been the first state visit by a French president to Germany in nearly two dozen years, The Associated Press reported.
The officer who shot and killed the teen has been detained on suspicion of voluntary homicide amid an ongoing investigation into the incident, according to the local prosecutor’s office.
Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said Thursday that the officer did not meet the requirements to discharge his weapon and will remain in custody awaiting trial.
France’s Inspectorate General of the National Police, which investigates allegations of police misconduct, is also conducting a probe into the fatal shooting.
Nahel’s family’s lawyers told ABC News they filed complaints against the officer accused of pulling the trigger and another officer who was at the scene.
Macron and Darmanin have both repeatedly called for “calm” as authorities investigate the teen’s death.
France’s national football team – including international star Kylian Mbappé — has also called for an end to the violence. “Many of us are from working-class neighborhoods, we too share this feeling of pain and sadness” over the killing of Nahel, the team said in a statement.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
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