Riots have rocked France for a second night after the shooting of a 17-year-old named “Nael M” or “Nahel” at the hands of local police. The demonstrations were initially centered on Nanterre, a Paris suburb where the shooting took place, but have now spread across the nation. The country’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin described Wednesday’s disorder as “a night of unbearable violence against the symbols of the republic: town halls, schools, police stations burned or attacked.”
At least 150 people have been arrested so far.
UPDATE: 09:10 a.m. EST – Some 40,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed across France in response to the riots, now confirmed to have left 170 police injured overnight. The number of confirmed arrests has also risen to 170.
“The last few hours have been marked by scenes of violence against police stations, but also schools and town halls… against institutions and the Republic,” said President Emmanuel Macron at a crisis meeting of Cabinet officials. Police are already said to be running low on rubber bullets as they attempt to quell the unrest.
Original report continues below…
French police killed a 17-year-old French-Algerian driver who allegedly refused to stop for a traffic check outside the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday, sparking unrest and protests across the capital pic.twitter.com/8VB0R0VUvo
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) June 28, 2023
Video of the original incident shows two police officers at a stopped car, one of whom is leaning on the hood, with his handgun trained on the driver. Suddenly, the car lurches forward, pushing the armed officer, who fires a single shot. The car stops a short distance away, the driver mortally wounded.
Mort de Nahel: deuxième nuit consécutive de violences urbaines en Île-de-France pic.twitter.com/fAl0K4OEbl
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) June 29, 2023
One video of the violent disruption even appears to show rioters trying to break people out of a prison south of Paris, bombarding the facility with fireworks, while others show them trying to cut down poles with security cameras or shoot them out with firearms.
The country’s globalist President Emmanuel Macron added fuel to the fire by publicly stating that “nothing justifies the death of a young person” and calling Nahel’s shooting “inexplicable and inexcusable.” Police unions pushed back, stressing the officer who shot Nahel should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Nahel’s mother has called for what the press is describing as a “memorial march” or “silent march” on Thursday, although her TikTok statement on the event was somewhat more inflammatory, with the woman saying: “Everyone come, we will lead a revolt for my son.”
Many appear to be using the teen’s death as cover to engage in general lawlessness, with video showing one group of migrant-background rioters using a power saw to try and cut an ATM out of a wall.
