Nanterre wakes up after fourth night of riots between protesters and police
Burnt cars, some still spewing smoke, lined up on roads in Nanterre on Saturday morning (July 1) in the aftermath of the fourth night of rioting over a teenager's fatal shooting by an officer during a traffic stop.
Unrest has flared nationwide, including in cities such as Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Lille as well as Paris where Nahel M., a 17-year-old of Algerian and Moroccan descent, was shot on Tuesday (June 27) in the Nanterre suburb.
His death, caught on video, has reignited longstanding complaints by poor and racially mixed urban communities of police violence and racism.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said early on Saturday that 270 people had been arrested on Friday night bringing the total to more than 1,100 since unrest ignited.
Friday night's arrests included 80 people in the southern city of Marseille, France's second-largest and home to many people of North African descent.
Darmanin’s office also reported nearly 80 police officers injured last night, 2,560 fires on public roads, 1,350 car burnt and 234 fires and damages.
Reuters
