Macron dances as his country goes up in flames: Fury at president as he’s seen partying at Elton John concert as another night of rioting sees looters ransack Paris’ designer shops over ‘execution’ of teen by police
- Gangs pillaged shops and smashed windows amid last night’s chaos in France
- Fury erupted as President Macron was seen partying with Elton John last night
Emmanuel Macron was seen dancing the night away Thursday evening while rioters took to the streets again for a third successive night following the ‘execution’ killing of a teenager in Paris.
Amid the looting of high-end shopfronts along the Rue de Rivoli in central Paris, anger continued to mount as the French president was seen partying with Elton John while his country burned.
He was filmed at Paris’s Accor Arena yesterday evening, watching the singer on his farewell tour, while rioters caused mayhem in the capital following the fatal shooting of a French-Algerian 17-year-old identified as Nahel on Tuesday.
Gangs were filmed pillaging shops last night – targeting Zara and Nike stores as well as the high-end shopfront next to the Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries. Swarms of looters were filmed running into the outlets and smashing windows.
France’s interior ministry said some 249 officers were injured in last night’s violence as Mr Macron called an emergency meeting within his government following the night of violence and unrest.
Protesters clash with police, following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop
French President Emmanuel Macron is pictured with his wife Brigitte last night at the Elton John concert at Paris’s Accor Arena
Elton John with Emmanuel (centre left), his wife Brigitte Macron and John’s husband David Furnish backstage at the Accor Arena
As the officer responsible for the death of Nahel, 17, was remanded in custody charged with murder, mobs stormed into the Chatelet shopping complex close to Notre Dame Cathedral.
‘Dozens of youths smashed the windows of sports stores, and then started stealing clothes and shoes’ said a police spokesman.
‘Businesses hit included a Nike store, fashion boutiques and the Samaritaine department store.
‘The attacks spread to other businesses, including a Five Guys fast food restaurant which was vandalised and then set on fire.’
There were similar scenes in cities and towns across France in the early hours of Friday morning, particularly in the southern city of Marseille.
Protesters erected barricades, lit fires and shot fireworks at police as tensions grew. More than 600 people were arrested around the country as the government struggled to restore order.
Armored police vehicles rammed through the charred remains of cars that had been flipped and set ablaze in the northwestern Paris suburb of Nanterre, where a police officer shot the 17-year-old on Tuesday.
On the other side of Paris, protesters lit a fire at the city hall of the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois and set a bus depot ablaze in Aubervilliers. The French capital also saw fires and some stores ransacked.
French firefighters walk past a burning car in Floirac on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France late last night
A man points at a burning car in Floirac on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France
Police stand by as material explodes in the Cite Pablo Picasso area of Nanterre, north-west of Paris in the early hours of this morning
Cars burn in the street at the end of a commemoration march for a teenage driver shot dead by a policeman
People stand in front of a Nike store vandalised during a night of clashes between protesters and police overnight
Burnt buses seen through the gates at the Fort d’Aubervilliers bus terminal in Aubervilliers, north of Paris following riots last night
Protesters were seen clashing with riot officers surrounded by flames
French firefighters put out the flames of a burning car in Floirac on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France late last night
A protester climbs on a building during clashes that broke out after a commemoration march for a teenage driver shot dead by a policeman
Police stand by as material explodes in the Cite Pablo Picasso area of Nanterre early this morning
Firefighters extinguish a car, burnt during night clashes between protesters and police, following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer
In the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, police sought to disperse violent groups in the city center, regional authorities said.
Some 40,000 police officers were deployed to quell the protests. Police detained 667 people, the interior minister said; 307 of those were in the Paris region alone, according to the Paris police headquarters.
Around 200 police officers were injured, according to a national police spokesperson. No information was available about injuries among the rest of the population.
Schools, town halls and police stations were targeted by people setting fires, and police used tear gas, water cannons and dispersion grenades against rioters, the spokesperson said.
Amid the unrest, the Elysee announced Macron would cut short a trip to Brussels, where he was attending a European Union summit, to chair a crisis meeting on the violence – the second such emergency talks in as many days.
It came as Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Friday denounced what he called a night of ‘rare violence.’ His office described the arrests as a sharp increase on previous operations as part of an overall government efforts to be ‘extremely firm’ with rioters.
The government has stopped short of declaring a state of emergency – a measure taken to quell weeks of rioting around France that followed the accidental death of two boys fleeing police in 2005.
As his country burned, the French President was snapped arm in arm with the legendary 76-year-old artist – who he bestowed France’s Legion of Honour award – alongside his wife Brigitte.
But Macron’s photo with Elton ignited outrage overnight, with Thierry Mariani, an MEP with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, raging: ‘While France was on fire, Macron applauded Elton John’, the Telegraph reported.
The violence continued despite the police officer accused of pulling the trigger being handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide.
French police stand in position as fireworks go off during clashes with youth, after the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop, in Nanterre, Paris suburb
People look at burning tyres blocking a street in Bordeaux,, south-western France last night
The windows to the Nike store were smashed in as gangs pillaged Paris’ shopfronts last night
View of a car, burnt during night clashes between protesters and police, following the death of Nahel
People look at a building of the Tessi group, burnt during night clashes between protesters and police
A building of the Tessi group, burnt during night clashes between protesters and police, following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer in Nanterre
A firefighter extinguishes fire from a car, burnt during night clashes between protesters and police, following the death of Nahel
View of a street with cars, burnt during night clashes between protesters and police
A French policeman looks at a burning car in Floirac on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France
A photo shows cars burning in the street at the end of a commemoration march for a teenage driver shot dead by a policeman
Men throw tyres in a fire blocking a street in Bordeaux, south-western France last night
People walk by burning tyres blocking a street in Bordeaux late last night
Riot police stand their ground against protestors
The rioting broke out after a policeman was accused of executing a teenage driver in cold blood after telling him: ‘I’m going to lodge a bullet in your head’. The horrific killing was videoed in Nanterre, to the west of the French capital
There are also now growing concerns of the mayhem spilling out into other corners of Europe after footage emerged of on social media of riots starting in areas of Belgium.
Riot police in body armour and wielding shields were seen storming the streets in the Belgium district of Anneessens.
Protesters, some clad in hoodies and wearing masks, clashed with the authorities as they torched cars and used fireworks as weapons in the streets.
About a dozen people were detained during scuffles related to the killing in France, with Belgian police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere saying several fires were brought under control, and that at least one car was burned.
Prosecutor Pascal Prache has said his initial investigation led him to conclude ‘the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met’.
After a crisis meeting yesterday following Tuesday night’s violence that injured scores of police and damaged nearly 100 public buildings, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the number of officers in the streets would more than quadruple, from 9,000 to 40,000 on Thursday. In the Paris region alone, the number of officers deployed would more than double to 5,000.
‘The professionals of disorder must go home,’ Mr Darmanin said.
While there is no need yet to declare a state of emergency – a measure taken to quell weeks of rioting in 2005 – he added: ‘The state’s response will be extremely firm.’
He said officers made more than 180 arrests before Thursday and that there would ‘doubtless’ be more.
Protesters, some clad in hoodies and wearing masks, clashed with the authorities as they torched cars and used fireworks as weapons as protests spread into Belgium last night
Belgium police were seen detaining a number of people following the riots near the Anneessens square in Brussels
Riot police were pictured in the streets of the Belgium capital last night as protests over the killing of a 17-year-old boy in France spread
Meanwhile, the mayhem in France continued for a third night, as riots clashed with authorities
The torched wrecks of cars destroyed by rioters littered the streets of Paris last night
Bus and tram services in the Paris area were shutting down before sunset as a precaution to safeguard transportation workers and passengers.
The town of Clamart, home to 54,000 people in the French capital’s south-west suburbs, said it was taking the extraordinary step of putting an overnight curfew in place from Thursday through to Monday, citing ‘the risk of new public order disturbances.’
The mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne announced a similar curfew in that town in the eastern suburbs of Paris.
Marseille, the giant port city in the south of France saw the beginnings of unrest on Thursday evening, with several hundred young people roaming the city centre and setting fire to rubbish containers, including in front of the region’s main administrative building, police said.
Officers dispersed most of the about 400 people who had gathered, police said. Police arrested three people and one officer was injured.
The unrest extended even to Brussels, where about a dozen people were detained during scuffles related to the shooting in France. Police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere said several fires were brought under control, and that at least one car was burned.
The shooting captured on video shocked the country and stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
Demonstrators gather by burning trees on the third night of protests sparked by the fatal police shooting
Firecrackers are let off on the third night of protests in Paris last night
A riot police officer is silhouetted as he walks in front of a fire on the streets of Paris
A police officer walks in front an elite BRI intervention squad armored vehicle
Riot police officers patrol on the third night of protests sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver in the Paris suburb of Nanterre
A police officer walks beside an elite BRI intervention squad armored vehicle on the third night of protests
Youths clash with police forces on the third night of protests sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver in the Paris suburb of Nanterre
Riot police officers patrol on the third night of protests sparked by the fatal police shooting
The teenager’s family and their lawyers have not said the police shooting was race-related and they did not release his surname or details about him.
It came as Nahel’s mother, Mounia, sheared details of her final moments with her son before his death Tuesday.
‘He was everything to me, and that son of a bitch shot him,’ she said on Instagram through tears.
The teen’s family said they will ‘never forgive’ the police officer for the death, as a witness called the shooting an ‘execution’.
‘He gave me a big kiss and told me he loved me, I told him to be careful,’ the grieving mother said. ‘We left the house at the same time and went to McDonalds, then I went to work like everyone.
‘An hour later my son was shot. What do I do now?
‘I only had one, he was my best friend, my son, we were so close, thank you all for your support, I don’t know what else to say.’
‘I will never forgive them,’ Nahel’s grandmother added.
‘My grandson died, they killed my grandson. We are not happy at all, I am against the government.
‘They killed my grandson, now I don’t care about anyone. They took my grandson from me, I will never forgive them in my life, never, never, never.’
Riot police officers patrol in a street on the third night of protests sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver in the Paris suburb of Nanterre
Police officers patrol as smoke billows from burnt vehicles on the third night of protests
An armored vehicle of the elite BRI intervention squad drives on the third night of protests
Riot police officers patrol on the third night of protests sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver in the Paris suburb of Nanterre
Burnt buses are pictured at the Fort d’Aubervilliers bus terminal in Aubervilliers, north of Paris following riots three days after a 17-year-old boy was shot in the chest by police at point-blank range
A burning car is pictured amid protests in Nanterre, west of Paris, last night
A French firefighter looks at a burning car in Floirac on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France
Burning vehicles lie in a street of the Cite Pablo Picasso area of Nanterre, north-west of Paris early this morning
Mounia also gave her first media interview since the shooting, telling the France 5 channel: ‘I don’t blame the police, I blame one person: the one who took the life of my son.’
She said the 38-year-old officer responsible, who was detained and charged with voluntary manslaughter on Thursday, ‘saw an Arab face, a little kid, and wanted to take his life’.
The memorial march for Nahel, led by Mounia, ended with riot police firing tear gas as several cars were set alight in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre, where the teenager lived and was killed.
Heightened security appeared to do little to deter unrest Thursday night.
In the city centre of Marseille, a library was vandalised, according to local officials, and scuffles broke out nearby when police used tear gas to disperse a group of 100 to 150 people who allegedly tried to set up barricades.
Multiple public buildings were also targeted in Seine-Saint-Denis, in the Paris metro area, according to a police source.
In the suburb of Drancy, rioters used a truck to force open the entrance to a shopping centre, which was then partly looted and burned, a police source said.
Firefighters in the northern municipality of Roubaix, meanwhile, dashed from blaze to blaze throughout the night, with a hotel near the train station also catching fire, sending its dozen or so residents fleeing into the streets.
In Nanterre, the epicentre of the unrest, tensions rose around midnight, with fireworks and explosives set off in the Pablo Picasso district, where Nahel had lived, according to an AFP journalist.
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 riots are a fresh challenge for the president, who had been looking to move past some of the biggest demonstrations in a generation sparked by a controversial rise in the retirement age.
Nahel’s death instantly inflamed raw nerves in neighbourhoods that have welcomed generations of immigrants from France’s former colonies and elsewhere. Their France-born children frequently complain that they are subjected to police ID checks and harassment far more frequently than white people or those in more affluent neighbourhoods.
17-year-old Nahel, who was shot in the chest by police in Nanterre on June 27, in Paris, France
Fire services moved in tandem with police officers to halt the spread of fires
More than 150 protestors have been arrested after the scenes which has shaken the French capital
A vehicle burns during clashes between protesters and police
Mr Prache, the Nanterre prosecutor, said officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish licence plates in a bus lane.
He ran a red light to avoid being stopped then got stuck in traffic. Both officers involved said they drew their guns to prevent him from fleeing.
The officer who fired a single shot said he feared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car, according to Mr Prache. The officers said they felt ‘threatened’ as the car drove off.
He said two magistrates are leading the investigation, as is common in France. Preliminary charges mean investigating judges strongly suspect wrongdoing but need to investigate more before sending the case to trial. The police officer was in provisional detention, prosecutors said.
Despite a beefed-up police presence, violence resumed for a second night on Wednesday, with protesters shooting fireworks and hurling stones at police in Nanterre, who fired repeated volleys of tear gas.
READ MORE: Violence breaks out in Paris as cops fire tear gas at huge 6,000 strong march led by mother of boy ‘executed’ by police – as officer is charged and placed in custody over killing
As demonstrations spread to other towns, police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and extinguish blazes.
Schools, police stations, town halls and other public buildings were damaged from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north, with most of the damage in the Paris suburbs, according to a national police spokesperson.
Fire damaged the town hall in the the Paris suburb of L’Ile-Saint-Denis, not far from the country’s national stadium and the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Mr Darmanin said 170 officers had been injured in the unrest but none of the injuries was life-threatening. At least 90 public buildings were vandalised. The number of civilians injured was not immediately released.
Scenes of violence in France’s suburbs echo 2005, when the deaths of 15-year-old Bouna Traore and 17-year-old Zyed Benna led to three weeks of nationwide riots, exposing anger and resentment in neglected, crime-ridden suburban housing projects. The two boys were electrocuted after hiding from police in a power substation in a Paris suburb.
The violence this time has spread faster than in 2005, although it has not matched the nationwide scale and sustained intensity of those riots.
There were contradicting accounts about what happened to the two teenagers in 2005, while the video of Nahel’s shooting immediately galvanised anger. Social media that did not exist two decades ago has also amplified unrest this time.
French President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency security meeting on Thursday about the violence.
‘These acts are totally unjustifiable,’ Mr Macron said at the beginning of the meeting, which aimed at securing hot spots and planning for the coming days ‘so full peace can return’.
Mr Macron also said it was time for ‘remembrance and respect’ as Nahel’s mother called for a silent march on Thursday that drew a large crowd to Nelson Mandela Square, where he was killed.
Some marchers had ‘Justice for Nahel’ printed on the front of their T-shirts. ‘The police kill’ read one marcher’s placard.
Bouquets of orange and yellow roses marked the site of the shooting.
France has sent tens of thousands of police officers into the streets in an effort to head off widespread rioting with commuters rushing home before transport services closed early for safety reasons
Urban violence has continued to stir up tensions between police and young people in housing projects and other neighborhoods
Police clear a street on the third night of protests
French police stand in position as fireworks go off during clashes with youth
A demonstrator crosses a street on the third night of protests
Government officials condemned the killing and sought to distance themselves from the police officer’s actions.
Videos of the shooting shared online show two police officers leaning into the driver-side window of a yellow car before the vehicle pulls away as one officer fires into the window. The videos show the car later crashed into a post nearby.
The driver died at the scene, the prosecutor’s office said.
French football star Kylian Mbappe, who grew up in the Paris suburb of Bondy, was among many shocked by what happened.
‘I hurt for my France,’ he tweeted.
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