France rocked by riots before teen funeral shot by police

Violence and unrest have continued in France today as the family of teenager Nahel M, whose murder during a confrontation with police caused riots, prepares for his funeral. About 45,000 police and several armoured vehicles have been unearthed across France's streets to deal with the worst crisis President Emmanuel Macron has been facing since 2018.

Violence in France does not stop, although official reports say there is a decline in intensity of violence compared to Friday protests.

France's Interior Minister Gerald Darman said 994 people had been arrested, mainly in their youth.

French President Emmanuel Macron also stressed the age of protesters by writing on the social network that “a third of those arrested are young, some of them very young. I urge my parents to be more responsible”.

Minister Darman said over 300 policemen and firefighters have been injured.

Seventeen-year-old Nahel of Algerian and Moroccan origin was shot during a traffic ban Tuesday in the French capital's suburbs of Nanterre. The footage taken by instant witnesses shows driving away from a teenager while being shot by police.

A few yards away, Nahel M. It hits the car.

The person who recorded this moment is heard saying:

He's dead, it's over, it's all over for him. I don't know what he's done, but he's done”

The district prosecutor's office, Nanterre, reported that teenager Nahel later died of his wounds.

After the video was published, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne discussed the case in the French Senate.

“has shock, anger and it is up to the courts to respond. I know about the daily engagement of police and gendarmerie in the field. They know that uniforming means fulfilling a task. Shocking images show an intervention that clearly does not comply with the rules of engagement of our employees in the order of”, Prime Minister Borne said.

News of the death of a teenager of Algerian and Moroccan origin initially sparked protests in Paris and then other cities in the country.

The port city of Marseille, first untouched by violence, experienced a night of unrest Friday.

Young people threw bottles of gasoline, set fires and robbed several shops, police said.

On Friday night, the robbers broke into an arms store in Marseilles and took weapons. A man was later arrested with a hunting rifle, police said.

The previous night, two law officials suffered serious injuries, including one that was stabbed, when they were attacked by about 20 people, police said.

Interior Minister Gerald Darman ordered the ban on the flow of public buses and trams during the evening, which were among the objectives of three consecutive nights of urban unrest.

Other cities affected by violence are also Lyons, Toulouse, Strasbourg, and Lilly.

Calls to prevent violence have joined French national football player Kyian Mbppe. In a long tweet, he wrote that he understands the anger people are feeling, but underlined that disasters and violence do not offer solutions.

From this tragic event we are seeing the expression of a popular bitterness whose source we understand, but we do not accept the way he is expressing himself. For many of us she comes from slums and we share these feelings of pain and sadness. This is being followed with a destruction process. Violence didn't solve anything...”, wrote football player Mbppe among other things.

French officials have warned social networking leaders, especially Snapchat and TikTok not to allow their use to spread violence.

According to President Macron, social networks are playing a significant “ ” in violence.

He announced the postponement of the visit to Germany, which was expected to begin Sunday. / VOA