After the death of a teenager – riots in France spread – also to Belgium – News

  • For the third night in a row, there have been riots in the greater Paris area and other cities in France after the killing of a youth during a police check.
  • 40,000 police officers were deployed nationwide. According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, 667 arrests were made and 249 police officers were injured.
  • President Emmanuel Macron plans to call an emergency meeting of the new government today, according to a media report citing the President’s office.
  • According to media reports, there were also unrest in Brussels, in neighboring Belgium – and arrests.

In France, special forces and helicopters were used in a number of cities, the newspaper “Le Parisien” and the broadcaster BFMTV reported.

In the port city Marseilles Hundreds of protesters clashed with the police and shops were looted. In Lille, Lyons and in Bordeaux special police units were deployed. In Grenoble A bus was shot at with firecrackers and the employees of the transport company then stopped work.

The youth, the police and the opportunities


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“Young people from the suburbs have their first contact with the police when they take public transport from their suburbs to Paris for the first time. Then they are checked by the police. A mayor of a suburb of Paris told me that,” says Daniel Voll, SRF France correspondent. This contact is formative for the young people. Many feel they are being mistreated by the police.

It is not the first time that France has experienced such riots. And every time there are such protests, political measures are taken to improve the social situation of people in neighborhoods with a high density of problems, such as cramped living conditions or high unemployment. But Voll notes soberly: “The feeling of certain groups of people to be socially disadvantaged already begins in the public schools. They are often in bad shape. It extends to the career opportunities that are worse for people from these neighborhoods. » Despite all the riots, not much has changed.

In Aubervilliers According to BFMTV, twelve public transport buses burned out near Paris.

Molotov cocktails against the police

Following a funeral march for the youth who was shot in Nanterre with 6000 participants, there were clashes between protesters and the police on Thursday evening. Molotov cocktails were thrown at the officers, the police monitored the situation with helicopters and called together special forces.

Legend:

Riots also broke out in Nanterre near Paris on Friday night.

Keystone/AP/JULIEN MATTIA

A bank branch was also set on fire in Nanterre, with the flames spreading to a residential building above. The fire brigade extinguished the fire without harming anyone.

clashes in Brussels

Also in Belgium’s capital Brussels There were clashes between young people and law enforcement officers on Thursday evening. Young people had played a cat-and-mouse game with the law enforcement officers and there had been several fires, the police said.

Belgium: Public transport had to be partially discontinued


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According to the Belgian news agency Belga, around 30 people were arrested, most of them minors. Young people had played a cat-and-mouse game with the law enforcement officers and there had been several fires, the police said. As the Brussels transport company announced on Twitter, part of the local public transport was discontinued.

Belgian media showed images of a burning car and police officers in riot gear. According to the police, young people called on social networks on Thursday to gather in response to the 17-year-old’s death in France. According to Belga, there were tensions especially around the centrally located district of Anneessens.

Trigger: Fatal shot from a service weapon

A motorcycle patrol stopped the 17-year-old at the wheel of a car on Tuesday morning. When the young man suddenly drove off, the deadly shot fell from the police officer’s service weapon. A preliminary investigation into manslaughter was initiated against the officer and he was taken into custody. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the use of the weapon during the control was not justified.

According to France Info, the two patrol officers initially stated that the youth had wanted to run them over. They later backed off from this version and explained that he had not followed their instructions and then suddenly accelerated – there was no longer any talk of an intention to kill.

I’m not mad at the police, I’m mad at one person: the one who took my son’s life.

As the detained police officer’s lawyer told the broadcaster BFMTV, the officer regrets the shot at the youth. With his first and last words he apologized to his family. “He’s devastated, he doesn’t get up in the morning to kill people. He didn’t want to kill.”

The mother of the youth who was shot meanwhile told the France 5 broadcaster: “I’m not mad at the police, I’m mad at one person: the one who took my son’s life.”

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