Protests after fatal shots
French police mobilize 40,000 officers
Updated on 06/29/2023 – 16:24 Reading time: 2 min.
Paris: Police officers are attacked with firecrackers. (Source: Reuters)
After attacks on schools and police stations, the French government takes action. Tens of thousands of police officers are to calm the situation across the country.
The French Interior Ministry mobilized a large number of police forces on Thursday. Violent demonstrations broke out across France after a youth was killed by a police officer. The officer shot the 17-year-old in the chest during a traffic stop on Tuesday.
As a result, riots broke out in Paris and other French cities. There have been more than 150 arrests so far, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning. The main targets of the protesters are state institutions: town halls, schools and police stations.
In Lille, Nantes, Toulouse and Lyon, among others, people gathered to protest, the newspaper “Le Figaro” and the broadcaster BFMTV reported. Garbage cans, cars, a bus and a truck, construction machinery and even a Paris tram were set on fire. The police spoke of a tense but controlled situation.
5,000 police forces in Paris alone
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Thursday that 5,000 of the 40,000 workers in total would be deployed in Paris and the surrounding area. This will quadruple the number of people deployed on Thursday evening compared to the night from Wednesday to Thursday. “I’m by your side,” Darmanin said to the emergency services.
“The state must react decisively,” Darmanin said. According to the minister, 9,000 police officers were deployed across France on Wednesday, and around 2,000 in Paris.
A motorcycle patrol stopped the youngster at the wheel of a car in Nanterre near Paris on Tuesday morning. When the young man suddenly drove off, the deadly shot fell from the police officer’s service weapon. He remains in police custody. He is being investigated on suspicion of manslaughter. The 38-year-old is threatened with suspension.
A funeral march is planned in Nanterre today to commemorate the youth who were killed.
