France, war zone after the death of Nahel

At Christmas 2005, Ziad Benna and Banou Traoretwo young people from Clichy-souis-Bois, one banlieuas the peripheral areas of large French cities where citizens of immigrant origin live are known, died electrocuted in an electrical substation while hiding from the police.

Their deaths sparked a wave of riots throughout the country as a protest for decades of problems of integration of the population and discrimination by law enforcement. On that occasion, hundreds of cars were burned and thousands of people were arrested. The tension shot up in such a way that the then president, Jacques Chirache was forced to deploy an extraordinary number of officers on the streets first and eventually declare a state of emergency.

Today, 18 years later, history seems to be repeating itself. The riots that have shaken France for three nights after the death of the young Nahel at the hands of the police in Nanterre, a suburb west of Paris, have awakened the same ghost. The government of Emmanuel Macronwhich held a crisis meeting on Thursday to address the protests, has deployed an extraordinary security device of 40,000 agents and has called a night curfew in some areas to “restore calm to the streets.”

[¿Joven ejemplar o rebelde sin causa? Las dos caras de Nahel, el adolescente que mató la policía en Francia]

The measure, however, seems not to be enough: this morning, violence has returned to roam the streets of the French country. After eight in the morning, the Ministry of the Interior reported that there had been 667 arrests in Francea figure of “record arrests” which “reflects the firmness of the instructions given by the minister to the police”. Besides, according to le figaroMost of the detainees are young people between the ages of 14 and 18.

During the night, the panorama that has been experienced in dozens of French cities has been one of streets literally on firewith Hundreds of hooded people confronting the police, who have not hesitated to respond with tear gas. Cars and garbage containers have been the main targets of the protesters, but there have also been looting of shops and attacks on public buildings.

Given the seriousness of the situation, the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmaninhas followed police operations throughout the night from the national police command center.

Looting and fires

Undoubtedly, the region most affected has been that of Nanterre, where the death of Nahel occurred. Until there they have come BRI vehiclesthe investigation and intervention brigade, which is in charge of acting in serious situations. At 2:30 in the morning tThere were still sporadic clashes between the youth and the police.

The riots have even reached Paris, where the majority of arrests have also occurred. There has been looting and destruction in the heart of the city, such as the famous Rue de Rivoli that leads to the Louvre Museum.

In the capital, fire lines have collapsed by the excess of calls, and the body has had to issue a statement, for the second night in a row, asking residents not to overload their call center. “Due to current events, we are receiving a large number of calls. Please do not overload the emergency lines, ”exposed the text.

In Rennesthe newspaper le figaro has reported groups of protesters launching molotov cocktails and they have stolen construction machinery to destroy the barricades. While in Marseille, a French German German helicopter has been flying over the city for much of the night, which has also resulted in several arrests.

Another city affected by the riots has been Beauvais. Some 60 people have vandalized several businesses in the Champs Dolent shopping center, including a post office, a cafeteria and a hairdresser’s. A situation very similar to that experienced in cities such as ulys, evryeither Chilly Mazarinwhere police stations have been attacked.

Lyon, Toulouse, Montreuil, Strasbourg… This is how one could continue enumerating the long list of towns to which the riots over Nahel’s death have spread. For the moment, the damage appears to be only material, since up to now No injuries have been officially reported..

Although in social networks circulates the video of a hooded man being hit by a pole cut, its authenticity has not been verified. The same has happened with other publications, such as that of a man who shoots security cameras from buildings in Noisy-le-Grand (in Paris) with a rifle.

The policeman apologizes

While the riots were going on, Laurent Liénardthe lawyer for the police officer accused of the young man’s homicide, has assured that his client “did not want to kill” Nahel and that he has already apologized to the family.

[Gases lacrimógenos, incendios… El homenaje al joven muerto en Nanterre degenera en violencia]

“My client was extremely shocked by the violence of this video (…) that he saw for the first time while in police custody,” he declared, referring to the images that show the shot that caused the death of the 17-year-old boy.

“The first words he said were to apologize,” added Liénard, who in an interview in BFM-TV has announced that on Friday will appeal his imprisonment. The policeman is currently in pretrial detention for misusing the weapon and has been charged with intentional homicide.

Liénard has affirmed that the agent never said that the victim’s car was heading towards him, but he has considered that this does not invalidate the fact that the shot was in legitimate defense, since the partner had entered the vehicle and both could be crushed if the car was spinning.

According to efe, the lawyer has pointed out in that interview that the victim had already been displaying dangerous behavior for pedestrians and cyclists and that his client tried to shoot downwards, towards his legs, but the trajectory of the car pushed him and deflected the weapon. “The car had to be stopped,” he opined.

He has also claimed that his client’s imprisonment is being used to try to calm the spirits in the countrysince the video images of the death caused a serious wave of social outrage.

Despite the apologies, it is foreseeable that the protests will continue for the next few days. For this reason, the right, headed by the leader of Los Republicanos, Eric Ciottiand that of Reconquista, Eric Zemmour, has already requested the activation of the state of emergency. The Executive, however, has ruled out this measure for the moment.