France police shooting latest: Tourist hotspot in Marseille evacuated as police clash with protesters
Protesters clashed with police on Thursday evening causing a tourist hotspot in the city to be evacuated.
The city’s man paper, La Provence, reported that police fired tear gas grenades and that emergency services had asked people to leave the popular Le Vieux Port.
It comes as the country was rocked by a third day of violence, after the boy, named Nahel, was killed during a traffic stop by police in Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris, on Tuesday.
A march in the area on Thursday afternoon descended into violence as police officers fired tear gas at protesters, who then smashed buildings and set fire to cars.
In other developments, a police officer has been charged with “voluntary homicide” and remanded in custody after a 17-year-old was killed.
The investigating magistrate has placed the man in provisional detention over Tuesday’s incident, the regional prosecutors said in a statement.
Meanwhile, authorities in the country said they are mobilising a police force of 40,000 across the country to stem further riots.
Police arrested 150 people overnight, with French president Emmanuel Macron condemning the violence as “unjustifiable”.
Key points
France police arrest 150 rioters as unrest spreads
Police officer who fatally shot teenager placed under investigation for homicide
French interior minister declares mobilising 40,000 police across France
Macron calls crisis meeting after second night of rioting
Why riots are breaking out in Paris
Tourist hotspot evacuated as police clash with protesters in Marseille
21:09 , Joe Middleton
Protesters clashed with police on Thursday evening causing a tourist hotspot in the city to be evacuated.
The city’s man paper, La Provence, reported that police fired tear gas grenades and that emergency services had asked people to leave the popular Le Vieux Port.
A number of bins and containers have also been set on fire by demonstrators who have been chanting “No justice, no peace” as they marched through the city.
Paris riots: Is it safe to visit the French capital?
20:30 , Joe Middleton
Paris has seen two nights of unrest following the killing of a 17-year-old by police officers on 27 June.
The death of the teenager, known only as Nahel, was captured on video and has shocked France, stirring long-simmering tensions between young people and the police in disadvantaged neighbourhoods around the country.
But as the French capital is gearing up for its annual influx of summer holidaymakers, is it safe to travel to Paris?
Paris riots: Is it safe to visit the French capital?
Riots in Paris: Where are the French riots and why are they happening?
19:56 , Joe Middleton
France’s President Emmanuel Macron is chairing a crisis meeting of senior ministers in the wake of a second night of rioting following the police killing of a 17-year-old boy, identified as Nahel, in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
There were 150 arrests across the country into Thursday. Police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and extinguish numerous blazes through the night that damaged schools, police stations and town halls or other public buildings, according to a spokesperson for the national police.
Authorities also re fires or skirmishes in multiple cities overnight, from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north – although the nexus remained Nanterre and the surrounding areas.
Where are the French riots and why are they happening?
Paris riots: Video shows police interacting with teen during fatal traffic stop
19:13 , Joe Middleton
French National Assembly observes minute’s silence for teenager fatally shot by police
18:24 , Joe Middleton
The French National Assembly held a minute’s silence on Wednesday, 28 June, in tribute to a 17-year-old delivery driver who was fatally shot by a police officer in a Paris suburb this week.
Footage circulating on social media of the incident shows two policemen by the window of a yellow car and the sound of a gunshot before the vehicle drives off on Tuesday.
Protests have erupted in the two days following the shooting, with fireworks thrown at police and cars set on fire while officers fired tear gas.
The officer has been detained on suspicion of manslaughter.
French National Assembly observes minute’s silence for teen fatally shot by police
Town near Paris imposes overnight curfew
17:33 , Joe Middleton
A Paris region town of 54,000 people says it’s putting an overnight curfew in place, stretching through the weekend, in response to rioting triggered by the deadly police shooting of a suburban teenager.
The town of Clamart, in the French capital’s southwest suburbs, announced the extraordinary measure Thursday in a statement on its website.
It said the overnight curfew would start at 9 p.m. and last until 6 a.m. - from Thursday night through to Monday.
It cited “the risk of new public order disturbances” for the decision, after two nights of urban unrest. “Clamart is a safe and calm town, we are determined that it stay that way,” it said.
Protesters march in Paris after fatal police shooting of 17-year-old
17:30 , Joe Middleton
Amelia Loulli: Emotional, desperate, full of rage – I joined the Paris protests with my teenage daughter
17:05 , Joe Middleton
Sophia came to the French capital to celebrate her 18th birthday – instead, we were caught up in carnage in the suburbs, writes Amelia Loulli. She will never forget what she witnessed:
Emotional, full of rage: I joined the Paris protests with my teenager | Amelia Loulli
Police officer charged with ‘voluntary homicide’ after teenager killed
16:45 , Joe Middleton
A French policeman has been charged and remanded in custody ahead of trial over the killing of a teenager at point blank range which has sparked nationwide protests and riots.
The investigating magistrate has charged the policeman with voluntary homicide and placed him in provisional detention over Tuesday’s incident, the regional prosecutors said in a statement.
Pictured: Violence erupts in Nanterre, near Paris, for the third day
16:36 , Joe Middleton
Police fire tear gas at protesters in Nanterre
16:13 , Joe Middleton
Anthony Cuthbertson reports for The Independent from Nanterre:
The march for Nahel had only just finished when the police suddenly appeared, sprinting out in lines from behind the high-rises, clashing with protesters on the fringes of the procession.
For an hour and a half, as the ‘marche blanche’ in the memory of 17-year-old Nahel proceeded through the streets of Nanterre, there hadn’t been a single uniformed police in sight.
The chants were directed at them: “No justice, no peace”. The mother of the killed teen led the crowd from the roof of a rented van. I was a few feet from her as the march finished and the sudden appearance of the police brought with it canisters of tear gas.She had to scramble down the front of the van to get away from it.
Within minutes buildings were being smashed and diggers set on fire as the crowds anger finally had a target.
The clashes are showing no signs of ending, with one protestor telling me, “It’s like a war zone, the whole sky is black, the police caused this mess”
Bus and tram services ‘shut down’ by authorities in Paris
15:54 , Joe Middleton
Bus and tram services are to shut down early so they are not “targets for thugs and vandals”, a Paris region official has said.
It comes as thousands of protesters are marching the streets near the capital city after the killing of 17-year-old Nahel by police.
Who is Nahel? The teen shot dead by police in France
15:11 , Joe Middleton
French president Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting as Francewas gripped by violence for a second day on Thursday over the police killing of a teenager of North African descent.
Clashes first erupted on Tuesday night in and around the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where the teen, identified as Nahel M, 17, was shot during a traffic check.
Nahel’s last name has not been released by authorities or his family. His mother has called for a silent march on Thursday in his honour in the square where the teenager was killed.
Who is Nahel? The teen shot dead by police in France
Thousands chant ‘justice pour Nahel’ at Nanterre protest
14:36 , Joe Middleton
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Nanterre this afternoon and are chanting “justice pour Nahel”, at a rally against what is perceived to be a culture of police impunity.
At the march in Nanterre, a town on the outskirts of Paris, on a flatbed lorry the teenager’s mother waved to the crowd wearing a white t-shirt reading “Justice for Nahel” with the date of his death below.
Karima Khartim, a local councillor in Blanc Mesnil north east of Paris said people’s patience was running thin. “We’ve experienced this injustice many times before,” he said.
Amelia Loulli, 37, who is at the protest with her daughter Sophia, 18, said the rally is “extremely emotional” and that people are angry.
“We demand that the judiciary does its job, otherwise we’ll do it our way,” a neighbour of Nahel’s family told Reuters at the march.
‘It’s very powerful. Extremely emotional. It feels desperate. People here are angry'
14:22 , Joe Middleton
A protester has described the “rage” and emotional scenes at the rally for 17-year-old Nahel, who was killed by police during a traffic stop.
Amelia Loulli, 37, from Cumbria, is at the protest in Nanterre, a town in the western outskirts of Paris, with her daughter Sophia, 18.
Ms Loulli said: “We’re right in the middle of it. It’s guttural. So much rage. It’s absolutely immense, it’s taking the whole place up. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“It’s extremely emotional. I assume it’s his family or friends on top of the van leading the protest Just so, so many people screaming “justice pour Nahel”. And it is being screamed.
“It’s very powerful. Extremely emotional. It feels desperate. People here are angry.”
Mother of teenager fatally shot by French police shares last words she exchanged with son
13:55 , Joe Middleton
The mother of a 17-year-old who was fatally shot by a French police officer in a Paris suburb has shared the last words she exchanged with her son before he died.
Footage taken by activist Assa Traore shows the mother of the teenager, who has been named as Nahel, describing how she told her “baby” to “be careful” the morning of the day he was shot.
“They took away my baby, he was still a child, he needed his mother,” she said.
The officer has been placed under formal investigation for voluntary homicide.
Mother of teenager fatally shot by French police shares her last words with son
Watch: Video shows police interacting with teenager during fatal traffic stop
13:30 , Namita Singh
Who is Nahel - teen shot dead by police in France
13:15 , Namita Singh
French president Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting as France was gripped by violence for a second day on Thursday over the police killing of a teenager of North African descent.
Clashes first erupted on Tuesday night in and around the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where the teen, identified as Nahel, 17, was shot during a traffic check.
Read more about him in this report:
Who is Nahel - teen shot dead by police in France
Why are riots breaking out in France?
13:00 , Namita Singh
Police arrested 150 people overnight in France as the unrest over the killing of a 17-year-old boy during a traffic check spread across the country.
The violence also drew sharp reaction from French president Emmanuel Macron who condemned it as “unjustifiable”, while speaking at the start of a crisis meeting with senior ministers.
The Interior Ministry said dozens of police officers were injured during the clashes.
But why is there a growing unrest in France? Report:
Second night of riots erupt around Paris over police killing of teenager
Nanterre prosecutor says officers drawing gun at Nahel felt ‘threatened’
12:37 , Namita Singh
The two officers involved in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old teen said they drew their gun to prevent Nahel from starting the car, Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said.
Three persons were in the car when police tried to stop it Tuesday.
Nahel managed to avoid a traffic stop by running a red light. He later got stuck in a traffic jam.
The officer who fired a single shot said he wanted to prevent the car from leaving and because he feared someone may be hit by the car, including himself or his colleague, according to Mr Prache.Both officers said they felt “threatened” by seeing the car drive off, he added.
However, Mr Prache concluded that “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met”. Two magistrates have been named to lead the investigation, he said.
‘Police is shielded from accountability in France’
12:26 , Namita Singh
A civil rights activist lashed out at the French authorities over the killing of Nahel.
“What does not surprise us at all is the speed at which the talking points of the police were immediately relayed by the mainstream media in France,” Yasser Louati, a local activist told Al Jazeera.
“Thank God there was a video that emerged online contradicting the official version of the police, pushing the government to react.
“At the same time, we should not forget to note how Macron was quick to react to the outburst of violence last night … he called the anger unjustifiable.
“The police is shielded from accountability in France … there is no transparency.”
170 police officers injured in violence following deadly police shooting
12:13 , Namita Singh
At least 170 officers have been injured in an effort to quell the violence following the deadly police shooting of a teen in Paris suburbs, said interior minister Gerald Darmanin.
None of the injuries were life-threatening, he added.
Protesters set cars and public buildings ablaze in Paris suburbs and unrest spread to some other French cities and towns. “The professionals of disorder must go home,” Mr Darmanin said. “There will be a lot more police and gendarmes present tonight.”
Breaking: French interior minister declares mobilising 40,000 police across France
11:45 , Namita Singh
French interior declares mobilising 40,000 police officers across France, including 5,000 in Paris, this evening.
Clash revives riot memories of 2005
11:41 , Namita Singh
The unrest across France, set off by the deadly police shooting of a teenager of North African descent during a traffic stop, has revived memories of riots in 2005 that gripped France for three weeks.
It forced then-president Jacques Chirac to declare a state of emergency.
That wave of violence erupted in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois and spread across the country following the death of two young people electrocuted in a power substation as they hid from police.
Two officers were acquitted in a trial ten years later.
Tuesday’s killing was the third fatal shooting during traffic stops in France so far in 2023, down from a record 13 last year, a spokesperson for the national police said.
In video: Mother of teenager fatally shot by French police shares last words she exchanged with son
11:38 , Namita Singh
French footballer Mbappe says 'hurting for my France'
11:29 , Namita Singh
French footballer Kylian Mbappe joined several teammates in expressing anger over the killing of a 17-year-old teen.
“I’m hurting for my France,” Mbappé tweeted. “An unacceptable situation. All my thoughts go to the family and loved ones of Naël, this little angel gone far too soon.”
Barcelona defender Jules Koundé expressed his disbelief at the killing, while lashing out at the coverage by the media.
“As if this latest police blunder wasn’t enough, the nonstop news outlets are taking advantage of it by making a big fuss,” Koundé wrote.
“Disconnected from reality, ‘journalists’ ask ‘questions’ with the sole aim of distorting the truth, criminalizing the victim and finding extenuating circumstances where there are none. An age-old method for masking the real problem.”
“A bullet in the head…It’s always for the same people that being in the wrong leads to death,” France goalkeeper Mike Maignan tweeted in response to Koundé’s post.
In pictures: Riots break out in France
11:11 , Namita Singh
French PM criticises use of fire arms
11:06 , Namita Singh
France’s prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, has criticised the use of firearms by the police in the incident involving fatal shooting of a 17-year-old driver during a traffic stop.
“The shocking images broadcast yesterday show an intervention that appears clearly not to comply with the rules of engagement of our police forces,” she said in parliament.
Several people have died or sustained injuries at the hands of French police in recent years, prompting demands for more accountability.
France also saw protests against racial profiling and other injustices in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota.
Prosecutor says ‘use of weapon not lawful’
10:54 , Namita Singh
French prosecutor said magistrates will investigate a police officer for “voluntary homicide” after he shot and killed a 17-year-old driver.
Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said that based on an initial investigation, he concluded that “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met” in the shooting.
Two magistrates have been named to lead the investigation, he said.
Mr Prache said he requested that the police officer be held in custody. That decision is to be made by another magistrate.
France in grip of riots over fatal shooting of teenager
10:53 , Namita Singh
Police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and extinguish numerous blazes through the night that damaged schools, police stations, town halls and other public buildings, according to a spokesperson for the national police.
The national police today reported fires or skirmishes in multiple cities overnight, from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north, though the nexus of tensions was Nanterre and other Paris suburbs.
Police arrested 150 people around the country, more than half of them in the Paris region, the spokesperson, who was not authorised to be publicly named according to police rules, said.
The number of people injured was not immediately released.
Breaking: Police officer who fatally shot teenager placed under investigation for homicide
10:26 , Namita Singh
The French police officer who fatally shot a 17-year-old boy in a Paris suburb on Tuesday has been placed under formal investigation for voluntary homicide, a French prosecutor said on Thursday.
The deadly shooting of the teenager of North African descent during a traffic stop has triggered two nights of rioting across France, prompting president Emmanuel Macron to convene a crisis meeting with senior ministers earlier in the day.
Watch: French National Assembly observes minute silence for teenager fatally shot by police
09:58 , Namita Singh
Macron calls fatal shooting of teenager by police ‘inexcusable’
09:52 , Namita Singh
France’s president Emmanuel Macron has described the death of a 17-year-old driver shot by police during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb as “inexplicable and inexcusable” – saying “nothing justifies” a young person being killed.
The remarks came in the wake of unrest and protests overnight into Wednesday, mainly in the Paris suburb of Nanterre where the victim – named as Nahel by lawyers representing his family – lived. Cars were burned and some protesters threw fireworks at the police, who sprayed people with tear gas.
In pictures: Riots break out in France
09:50 , Namita Singh
Why riots are breaking out in Paris
09:44 , Namita Singh
The killing of a 17-year-old – known only as Nahel – on Tuesday during a traffic check in Nanterre, captured on video, shocked the country and stirred up long-simmering tensions between young people and the police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighbourhoods around France.
The purported clip of the incident showed two police officers leaning into the driver-side window of a yellow car. One officer fired into the window before the vehicle pulled. The car then crashed into a post nearby.
The victim, who was driving the car, sustained a gunshot wound and died at the scene, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.A passenger in the car was briefly detained and released, and police are searching for another passenger who fled.
Clashes first erupted on Tuesday night in Nanterre, a town west of Paris, and nearby, with violence resuming on Wednesday after nightfall, as the police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and extinguish numerous blazes.
More in this report:
Second night of riots erupt in Paris over police shooting of teenager as 150 arrested
Watch: Video shows police interacting with teenager during fatal traffic stop
09:33 , Namita Singh
Paris riots: Video shows police interacting with teen during fatal traffic stop
Macron calls crisis meeting after second night of rioting
09:32 , Namita Singh
President Emmanuel Macron convened a crisis meeting with senior ministers today after riots spread across France overnight over the deadly police shooting of a teenager of North African descent during a traffic stop.
The last few hours have been marked by scenes of violence against police stations but also schools and town halls, and thus institutions of the Republic and these scenes are wholly unjustifiable.
Emmanuel Macron
The fatal shooting has fed into longstanding complaints of police violence from within the low-income, racially mixed suburbs that ring major cities in France.
France police arrest 150 rioters as unrest spreads
09:16 , Namita Singh
Police arrested 150 people overnight in France as the unrest over the killing of a 17-year-old boy during a traffic check spread across the country.
The Interior Ministry said dozens of police officers were injured during the clashes. “A night of unbearable violence against symbols of the Republic: town halls, schools and police stations put ablaze or attacked. 150 arrests,” said interior minister Gerald Darmanin on his Twitter account.
The killing of a 17-year-old – identified as Nahel– on Tuesday during a traffic check in Nanterre, captured on video, shocked the country and stirred up long-simmering tensions between young people and the police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighbourhoods around France.
More in this report:
Second night of riots erupt in Paris over police shooting of teenager as 150 arrested
09:13 , Namita Singh
Welcome to The Independent’s liveblog for Thursday, 29 June 2023, where we provide the latest unrest in France following the killing of the teen.
