President Macron returns to France as protesters destroy 12 buses
Friday, after a third night of protests over a policeman's killing of a youngster saw cars set on fire, stores looted, and hundreds of people arrested, France's president hurried home from an EU summit for a crisis meeting.
Paris has experienced a night of violence and damage due to the tragic shooting of 17-year-old Nahel, who was fatally shot during a traffic stop. Around 40,000 police and gendarmes, along with elite Raid and GIGN units, were deployed in several cities overnight, with curfews issued in municipalities around Paris and bans on public gatherings in Lille and Tourcoing in the country's north. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reported 667 people arrested in the violence, while 249 police officers were injured, none of them seriously. Rioting apparently linked to the Paris police shooting had even followed Macron to the Belgian capital, with Brussels police reporting 63 people detained late Thursday for setting fires and erecting barricades. The Paris region's bus and tram lines remained "severely disrupted" on Friday, the RATP transport authority said.
The government is desperate to avoid a repeat of 2005 urban riots, sparked by the death of two boys of African origin in a police chase, during which 6,000 people were arrested. Macron has called for calm and said the protest violence was "unjustifiable." The killing of the teen of North African descent is "a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement."
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