Fresh clashes erupt in France with tear gas fired

France burnt for a fifth night as rioters rampaged through major cities, torching cars and trashing buildings – prompting the drastic deployment of French special forces in an attempt to stop the mayhem from escalating. 

Up to 7,000 police were deployed into Paris overnight – joining a nationwide force of 45,000 officers – as the civil unrest continued to deepen following the killing of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk on Tuesday. 

The latest violent clashes broke out just hours after hundreds of people attended the open-coffin funeral of Nahel, whose alleged ‘execution’ by police during a traffic stop sparked this week’s carnage, which has seen 2,400 people arrested nationwide.

Columns of riot police, armed with shields and helmets and supported by armoured vehicles, were seen storming protesters in the southern city of Marseille, where mobs were blasted with tear gas. 

While in an escalation of the French government’s response to the crisis, troops from France’s elite special forces, the GIGN – similar to the SAS, were scrambled to reinforce officers during the uprising. 

In Paris, riot police formed a ring of steel the city’s iconic Arc de Triomphe as officers – supported by armoured cops on motorbikes – pushed back against the protesters. 

The uprising is the worst to face French President Emmanuel Macron since the Yellow Vest protests – who is now under renewed pressure to stamp out the disorder. 

France’s Interior Ministry announced that in Friday’s night of violence, 1,311 people were arrested around the country, where 45,000 police officers fanned out in a so-far unsuccessful bid to restore order. 

In the violence sparked by the teen’s death on Tuesday, some 2,400 persons have been arrested overall.

The interior minister, defending the mass arrests, said 45,000 police would again be deployed tonight, with an increase in the cities of Marseille, Grenoble and Lyon after a spike in violence there.

The GIGN or National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, which was also dispatched, is France’s top hostage rescue unit and has already arrived in Marseille to reinforce police. 

The elite unit is also known for its counterterrorism missions and other special operations. 

The unit’s national police equivalent, the RAID – Research, Assistance, Intervention and Dissuasion – troops were also deployed and have been seen standing guard in the city.

Paris and its nearby regions would also be policed by 7,000 officers, he said.

Numbers would be ‘considerably reinforced’ in these cities ‘in order to completely restore republican order’, Darmanin said.

He tweeted tonight that 200 riot police would be mobilized in Marseille, where TV showed footage of tear gas and officers in the streets as night fell. 

The number of people who were already arrested in Marseille today has risen to 38, according to French news outlet BFMTV. They also said 10 people were arrested in Lyon.

At least 37 were arrested in Paris near the Champs-Elysées, where police vans were seen parked outside luxury stores in one of the capital’s most high-profile areas. 

Protesters and rioters turned out on the streets of cities and towns, clashing with police, despite Macron’s appeal to parents to keep their children at home. 

About 2,500 fires were set and stores were ransacked, according to authorities. 

The justice minister said 30 per cent of those detained were minors, some as young as 13. ‘It’s not up to the state to raise children,’ said the minister, Eric Dupond-Moretti, lashing out at parents of underage rioters.

Macron has also scrapped an official trip to Germany today after a fourth straight night of rioting and looting across France in defiance of a massive police deployment. 

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s office said Macron phoned Saturday to request a postponement of what would have been the first state visit by a French president to Germany in 23 years. 

Macron had been scheduled to fly to Germany on Sunday evening for the visit to Berlin and two other German cities.

Macron’s office said he spoke with Steinmeier and, ‘given the internal security situation, the president (Macron) said he wishes to stay in France over the coming days.’

‘Nahel’s story is the lighter that ignited the gas. Hopeless young people were waiting for it. We lack housing and jobs, and when we have (jobs), our wages are too low,’ said Samba Seck, a 39-year-old transportation worker in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.

Clichy was the birthplace of weeks of riots in 2005 that shook France, prompted by the deaths of two teenagers electrocuted in a power substation while fleeing from police. One of the boys lived in the same housing project as Seck.

Like many Clichy residents, he lamented the violence targeting his town, where the remains of a burned car stood beneath his apartment building, and the town hall entrance was set alight in rioting this week.

‘Young people break everything, but we are already poor, we have nothing,’ he said, adding that ‘young people are afraid to die at the hands of police.’

Despite the escalating crisis, Macron held off on declaring a state of emergency, an option used in 2005. 

But government ratcheted up its law enforcement response, with the mass deployment of police officers, including some who were called back from vacation.

France’s justice minister, Dupond-Moretti, warned today that young people who share calls for violence on Snapchat or other apps could face legal prosecution. Macron has blamed social media for fueling violence.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said 700 shops have been damaged and promised government support for owners.

‘There is no nation without order, without common rules,’ he said.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has ordered a nationwide nighttime shutdown of all public buses and trams, which have been among rioters’ targets. He also said he warned social networks not to allow themselves to be used as channels for calls to violence.

For the funeral, several hundred people lined up to enter Nanterre’s grand mosque, which was guarded by volunteers in yellow vests, while a few dozen bystanders watched from across the street.

A group of around 30 young men who stood guard at the entrance asked people not to take pictures. 

‘We aren’t part of the family and didn’t know Nahel but we were very moved by what has happened in our town. So we wanted to express our condolences,’ one man among the mourners, who declined to give his name said. 

Some of the mourners, their arms crossed, said ‘God is Greatest’ in Arabic, as they spanned the boulevard in prayer.

Salsabil, a young woman of Arab descent, said she had come to express support for Nahel’s family. ‘It’s important we all stand together,’ she said.

Marie, 60, said she had lived in Nanterre for 50 years and there had always been problems with the police.

‘This absolutely needs to stop. The government is completely disconnected from our reality,’ she said.

The family stressed that the funeral should be intimate and away from the cameras.

Family and friends were viewing the open coffin before it was taken to a mosque for a ceremony and later burial in a town cemetery.

A hearse was reported to have left the funeral parlour at midday and was later taken to the Ibn Badis mosque before his burial in the Mont Valérien cemetery.

The funeral proceedings finished at 3.30pm and was marked by ‘reflection and without incidents’, a witness said.

The warm Saturday afternoon setting seemed far removed from the nights of violence in the streets that have left windows smashed and vehicles charred across the country.

Many in the crowd either knew Nahel, or identified with him. Most were young and male, and many were Arab or black.

After four days of chaos, there was near-silence at the cemetery.

Some attendees could be seen wearing ‘Justice for Nahel’ t-shirts. As the crowd pressed through the cemetery gates, the police were nowhere to be seen.

For all the significance of the day, only a few people were seen filming with mobile phones.

The teenager’s killing was captured on video, which was crucial in the swift detention of the police officer involved.

But at his burial, some journalists were chased away.

‘Men first,’ an official in suit and tie declared to dozens of women waiting to enter the cemetery. But Nahel’s mother, dressed in white, walked straight inside to applause, and headed toward the grave.

The crowd had grown for hours, first at the mosque where prayers were held, then at the cemetery.

From time to time, the word ‘martyr’ could be heard.

Inside the cemetery gate, the white casket was lifted above the crowd and carried toward the grave. The men followed, some holding little boys by the hand.

As they left, some wiped their eyes. Others looked blank, shattered. Some offered warm greetings to acquaintances.

A few carried folded prayer rugs. Some looked frustrated, striding alone back into the streets.

As the funeral attendees began to scatter, other parts of Paris enjoyed a summer weekend, with tour groups and cafe-goers just a few miles away.

Near the cemetery, a Parisian who identifies as Arab and gave only his partial name, Sid Ali, for fear of retaliation by police or authorities, said he is not sure Nahel’s killing and the violent unrest will change anything.

‘Paris has burned a bit, no?’ he said. ‘Let’s see if the police will change their ways as the days pass.’

It has also been revealed what both French policemen who pulled over 17-year-old driver Nahel said as his passenger has broken his silence on the alleged execution that has sparked outrage and riots across France. 

The passenger who was with Nahel in the car at the time of the shooting shared a video of his comments and said he has come forward to share his story because he wanted to ‘establish the truth’.

The passenger claimed the first officer put his gun to Nahel’s head and told him: ‘Don’t move or I’ll put a bullet in your head.’

He claims the second officer said: ‘Shoot him’, before the first then struck him with the butt of his gun again. This forced Nahel to release the break.

The second officer, the passenger claims, then fired, alerting Nahel to put his foot on the accelerator. At 17, Nahel was too young to have a driving licence.

The passenger released footage on social media saying ‘there are a lot of lies on social media’ and that he would tell ‘the story from A to Z’.

The young man – who was in the car that had Polish number plates – said they borrowed the vehicle and went for a drive around Nanterre but ‘weren’t under the influence of any alcohol or drugs’.

He said they were in a bus lane when they noticed police on motorbikes following behind, eventually stopping them. 

He said one officer came to the window and told Nahel: ‘Cut the engine or I’ll shoot you.’ He claimed the officer struck Nahel with the butt of his gun, before a second arrived and did the same.

‘I saw him in pain, he trembled,’ the young man said. ‘We hit a barrier.

‘I was afraid. I got out of the vehicle. And I ran away. I thought they might shoot me. So I ran.’ 

‘I’m shocked at what happened in front of me to my friend,’ he concluded.

Dalhaimi, 53, who claims his cousins were friends with Nahel, told Le Parisien: ‘It feels good for us Muslims to come together to share our pain. I hope Nahel will enter paradise.’

Nicole, a 50-year-old neighbour of Nahel’s grandmother, told the newspaper she was sad and angry over Nahel’s death, who she said spent a lot of time with his grandmother.

Britain’s Foreign Office also issued an alert to the two million Britons set to travel to France over the summer, with officials now imploring tourists to take out travel insurance as they claim it is more important than ever. 

It comes after a police officer was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide and placed in provisional detention following the killing.

Prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude ‘the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met.’ 

France’s interior ministry said 1,311 people had been arrested Friday, compared with 875 the previous night, in violence which it said on Twitter was ‘lower in intensity’.

A gunman opened up on police and a weapons shop was looted during the escalating riots.

An officer in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, described how ‘gunfire started’ as a patrol entered a council estate where tower blocks had been set alight in the early hours of Saturday.

‘We were forced to flee – it was a matter of life and death,’ he said. ‘Three officers suffered minor wounds, but it could have been far worse.

‘We were forced to shoot back with a tear gas grenade launcher, at the risk of tearing a rioter’s head off,’ said the policeman, who asked not to be identified by name.

Officers suffered wounds to the legs and groin, prompting a local police spokesman to say: ‘We have crossed a red line. We’ve not seen this kind of thing before here, and it’s of deep concern.’

After the marauding gangs of rioters clashed with police again, Macron is now facing calls to impose a state of emergency.

Looters ransacked some of France’s major cities as local police declared they were now at ‘war’ with ‘savage hordes of vermin’ – with officers from two of the country’s biggest policing unions now threatening to revolt. 

France’s national football team – including international star Kylian Mbappe, an idol to many young people in the disadvantaged neighbourhoods where the anger is rooted – have pleaded for an end to the violence.

‘Many of us are from working-class neighbourhoods, we too share this feeling of pain and sadness’ over the killing of 17-year-old Nahel, the players said in a statement.

‘Violence resolves nothing. There are other peaceful and constructive ways to express yourself.’

They said it is time for ‘mourning, dialogue and reconstruction’ instead.

This week’s rioting is the worst France has seen in years and puts new pressure on Macron, who appealed to parents to keep children off the streets and blamed social media for fuelling violence.

Last night saw continued riots were looters were seen rampaging through the streets of Marseille, Lille and Paris, amid claims some broke into a gun shop and stole hunting rifles while others ransacked a police station. Cars, buses and government buildings have been set alight and fireworks have been launched at police.

There were more than 3,800 fires on public roads last night, while more than 500 buildings were set alight.

Hundreds of police and firefighters have been injured, including 79 overnight, but authorities haven’t released injury tallies for protesters.

Nanterre Mayor Patrick Jarry said that France needs to ‘push for changes’ in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Despite repeated government appeals for calm and stiffer policing, Friday saw brazen daylight violence, too. An Apple store was looted in the eastern city of Strasbourg, where police fired tear gas, and the windows of a fast-food outlet were smashed in a Paris-area shopping mall, where officers repelled people trying to break into a shuttered store, authorities said.

In the face of the escalating crisis that hundreds of arrests and massive police deployments have failed to quell, Macron held off on declaring a state of emergency, an option that was used in similar circumstances in 2005.

Instead, his government ratcheted up its law enforcement response, with the mass deployment of police officers, including some who were called back from vacation.

Darmanin ordered a nationwide nighttime shutdown Friday of all public buses and trams, which have been among rioters’ targets. He also said he warned social networks not to allow themselves to be used as channels for calls to violence.

‘They were very cooperative,’ Darmanin said, adding that French authorities were providing the platforms with information in hopes of cooperation identifying people inciting violence.

‘We will pursue every person who uses these social networks to commit violent acts,’ he said.

Macron, too, zeroed in on social media platforms that have relayed dramatic images of vandalism and cars and buildings being torched. Singling out Snapchat and TikTok, he said they were being used to organize unrest and served as conduits for copycat violence.

The police officer accused of killing Nahel was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide. Preliminary charges mean investigating magistrates strongly suspect wrongdoing, but need to investigate more before sending a case to trial. Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said that his initial investigation led him to conclude that the officer’s use of his weapon wasn’t legally justified.

Nahel’s mother, Mounia, told France 5 television that she was angry at the officer, but not at the police in general. ‘He saw a little Arab-looking kid, he wanted to take his life,’ she said.

‘A police officer cannot take his gun and fire at our children, take our children’s lives,’ she said. The family has roots in Algeria.

Race was a taboo topic for decades in France, which is officially committed to a doctrine of colorblind universalism. In the wake of Nahel’s killing, French anti-racism activists renewed complaints about police behavior.

‘If you have the wrong skin colour, the police are much more dangerous to you,’ said a young man, who declined to be named, adding that he was a friend of Nahel’s. 

Thirteen people who didn’t comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year. This year, another three people, including Nahel, died under similar circumstances. The deaths have prompted demands for more accountability in France, which also saw racial justice protests after George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota.

This week’s protests echoed the three weeks of rioting in 2005 that followed the deaths of 15-year-old Bouna Traoré and 17-year-old Zyed Benna, who were electrocuted while hiding from police in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois.

Eric Ciotti, the head of the Republicans party said his country ‘is on the edge of a precipice’ and that ‘we must wage a merciless war against violence and proclaim a state of emergency in all affected areas’, the Telegraph reported, as he launched a political broadside against Macron.

Domestic intelligence seen by French newspaper Le Monde has also warned the president that riots could become increasingly ‘widespread’ and continue for the ‘coming nights’.

French police have said that they are currently ‘at war’ with ‘savage hordes of vermin’, The Telegraph reported after violence continued throughout the evening. 

Two of the country’s biggest police unions have threatened a revolt unless Mr Macron restores order.

They said: ‘Today the police are in combat as we are at war. Tomorrow we will be in resistance and the government should be aware of this.’

The comments come off the back of claims by the unions, Alliance Police, Nationale and UNSA Police suggested that the response so far from Mr Macron’s government had been far too weak.

They wrote: ‘Faced with these savage hordes, calling for calm is no longer sufficient, it must be imposed!’ 

It comes as British tourists were warned about travelling in France as the country imposed curfews and traffic shutdowns to try and quell nationwide rioting.

The Foreign Office on Friday updated its travel advice as a response to the violence, saying: ‘Some local authorities may impose curfews. Locations and timing of riots are unpredictable.

‘You should monitor the media, avoid areas where riots are taking place, check the latest advice with operators when travelling and follow the advice of the authorities.’

Widespread looting has also taken place in Marseille, with France Bleu Provence reporting that four hunting rifles were stolen from an armory during the riots in Marseille. 

One store manager described having seen ’30 determined kids’ and assures that his stock ‘is no longer secure’, however, police have said that no ammunition was taken.

One individual was arrested with a rifle likely coming from the store, police said. The store was now being guarded by police. 

Authorities earlier banned demonstrations in the city set for Friday, and encouraged restaurants to close outdoor areas early. They said public transport would stop at 7 pm

‘The next hours will be decisive and I know I can count on your flawless efforts,’ Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote to firefighters and police officers, seeking to quell the unrest that has been breaking out after nightfall.

He asked local authorities to halt bus and tram traffic from 9pm across France and later said 45,000 officers from the police forces would be deployed on Friday evening, 5,000 more than on Thursday.

Asked on TF1’s main evening television news programme on Friday whether the government could declare a state of emergency, Darmanin said: ‘Quite simply, we’re not ruling out any hypothesis and we’ll see after tonight what the President of the Republic chooses.’

Macron reportedly left a European Union summit in Brussels early to chair a second cabinet crisis meeting – the French equivalent of a Cobra meeting – in two days. 

He has asked social media to remove ‘the most sensitive’ footage of rioting and to disclose identities of users fomenting violence.

The French president told parents to keep their children at home after it emerged young people accounted for a third of the arrests made.

He said: ‘It is the parents’ responsibility to keep them at home and therefore it’s important for everyone’s peace of mind that parental responsibility is fully exercised. It’s not the republic’s job to replace fathers and mothers.’ 

Darmanin met representatives from Meta, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok. 

Snapchat said it had zero tolerance for content that promoted violence. A friend of the victim’s family, Mohamed Jakoubi, who watched Nahel grow up, said the rage was fuelled by a sense of injustice after incidents of police violence against minority ethnic communities, many from former French colonies.

‘We are fed up, we are French too. We are against violence, we are not scum,’ he said.

Mr Macron said social media was fuelling copycat violence, and that platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok needed to remove ‘the most sensitive content’.

He said: ‘We sometimes have the feeling that some young people are living in the streets of the video games that have intoxicated them.’

The President also urged parents to keep teenagers at home, rather than let them out looking for trouble.

‘It is the parents’ responsibility to keep them at home,’ said Mr Macron. ‘And therefore, it is important for everyone’s peace of mind that parental responsibility can be fully exercised.’

Fresh pleas from French footballing icon Kylian Mbappe have also called on protesters to stop the chaos, saying that there are ‘other peaceful and constructive ways to express yourself’.   

The PSG forward issued a statement which read: ”Violence solves nothing, even less when it inevitably and tirelessly turns against those who express it, their families, loved ones and neighbours. 

‘It is your property that you are destroying, your neighborhoods, your cities, your places of fulfillment and proximity. In this context of extreme tension, we cannot remain silent and our civic conscience encourages us to call for appeasement, awareness and accountability.’

In Nanterre on the outskirts of the Paris protesters torched cars and buses, barricaded streets and hurled projectiles at police following an earlier peaceful vigil.

The interior ministry said 79 police posts were attacked overnight, as well as 119 public buildings including 34 town halls and 28 schools.