Violence appears to be easing at French protests over murder of teen: NPR – News Block

Police officers patrol in front of the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Saturday.

Christophe Ena/AP

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Christophe Ena/AP

Police officers patrol in front of the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Saturday.

Christophe Ena/AP

PARIS (AP) — The grandmother of the French teenager shot dead by police during a traffic stop pleaded Sunday for protesters to stop after five nights of unrest, as authorities expressed outrage over an attack on the home of a mayor who was struck by a burning car injuring family members. .

Nahel’s 17-year-old grandmother, identified only as Nadia, said in a telephone interview with French news network BFM TV: “Don’t break windows, buses… schools. We want to calm things down.”

She said she was angry with the officer who killed her grandson but not with police in general and expressed faith in the justice system as France grapples with its worst civil unrest in years. Her grandson, identified only by his first name, was buried Saturday.

The violence seemed to be abating. Still, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin’s office said 45,000 police officers would once again be deployed on the streets to counter anger over discrimination against people who trace their roots to former French colonies and live in low-income neighborhoods. Nahel is of Algerian descent and was shot in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

President Emmanuel Macron held a special security meeting on Sunday night and is scheduled to meet the heads of both houses of parliament on Monday and the mayors of 220 towns and cities affected by the protests on Tuesday, a participant in the meeting said. meeting, who spoke anonymously online. with the practices of the French government. Macron also wants to start a longer-term, detailed assessment of the reasons that led to the unrest, the official said.

Highlighting the severity of the unrest, Macron delayed what would have been the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, which was scheduled to begin on Sunday night.

The Interior Ministry said police made 49 arrests across the country on Sunday, French media reported, a significant drop from 719 arrests the day before. More than 3,000 people have been detained in total after a massive deployment of security. Hundreds of police officers and firefighters have been injured in the violence, though authorities have not said how many protesters were injured.

French authorities were horrified on Sunday after a burning car struck the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses. Several police stations and town halls have been set on fire or vandalized in recent days, but such a personal attack on a mayor’s home is unusual.

Vincent Jeanbrun, left, the mayor of L’Hay-les-Roses and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne speak to the media on Sunday after protesters rammed their home with a vehicle overnight.

Charlie Triballeau/AP

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Vincent Jeanbrun, left, the mayor of L’Hay-les-Roses and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne speak to the media on Sunday after protesters rammed their home with a vehicle overnight.

Charlie Triballeau/AP

Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said his wife and one of their children were injured in the 1:30 a.m. attack while they were sleeping and he was in city hall monitoring the violence. Jeanbrun, of the conservative opposition Republican Party, said the attack represented a new stage of “horror and ignominy” in the unrest.

Regional prosecutor Stephane Hardouin has opened an attempted murder investigation, telling French television that a preliminary investigation suggests the car was intended to ram the house and set it on fire. He said a flame accelerator in a bottle was found in the car.

Macron has blamed social media for fueling the violence. France’s justice minister has warned that young people who share calls for violence on Snapchat or other apps could face prosecution.

The massive police deployment has been welcomed by some frightened residents of targeted neighborhoods, but has further frustrated those who see police behavior as at the heart of the crisis.

In a public square in Nanterre, a young man of Senegalese descent said France would learn little from the latest unrest. Faiez Njai said of the police: “They are playing on our fears, saying ‘if they don’t listen to us,'” then he pointed his finger at his temple and fired.

Video of the murder showed two officers at the car window, one with his gun pointed at the driver. As the teen moved forward, the officer fired once through the windshield. The officer accused of killing Nahel was given a preliminary charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Thirteen people who failed to comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year, and three this year, prompting demands for greater liability.

“Nahel M.’s death first reflects the rules and practices around how police officers use weapons during roadside checkpoints and, more broadly, the faulty relationships between police and youth in working-class neighborhoods,” it said. the newspaper Le Monde in an article. Saturday editorial.

Amid the riots, a World War Two memorial in Nanterre commemorating Holocaust victims and members of the French resistance was vandalized on the sidelines of a silent march on Thursday to pay tribute to Nahel. Slogans included “Don’t forgive or forget” and “Police, rapists, murderers.” The European Jewish Congress denounced the vandalism as a “shameful act of disrespect for the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.”

Life in some parts of France went on as usual. In the capital, tourists flocked to the Eiffel Tower, where workers installed a nearby clock counting down to next year’s Paris Olympics. A short walk from Nanterre, a shopping mall was bustling on Sunday with customers from all walks of life. But in the empty square where Nahel was shot, someone had painted “The policeman kills” on a bench.

At the foot of a bridge near the Eiffel Tower, where generations of couples have placed padlocks to symbolize lasting love, a Senegalese man who sells cheap locks and keys shook his head when asked if Nahel’s murder and the ensuing violence would change anything. .

“I doubt it,” he said, giving only his first name, Demba, for fear of retaliation. “The discrimination runs too deep.”