French President Emmanuel Macron has called the shooting death of a 17-year-old delivery driver by police ‘inexcusable’ and appealed for calm as unrest erupted in France for a second night in a row.
French-Algerian delivery driver Nael M. was gunned down at the wheel of a Mercedes in the western suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday morning, sparking anarchy in the French capital.
There were clashes and arson attacks in several Paris suburbs overnight on Tuesday, with 31 people arrested and 24 police officers injured. Around 2,000 riot police have been called up in suburbs around the capital.
Overnight on Wednesday, trash bins were set on fire and fireworks set off in Nanterre, as well as other communes of the Hauts-de-Seine region to the west of Paris, and in the eastern city of Dijon.
In the Essonne region to the south of the capital, a group of people set a bus on fire after having all the passengers get off, police said.
In the southern city of Toulouse, several cars were torched and responding police and firefighters pelted with projectiles as thick black smoke billowed high into the sky, a police source said.
About 16 people have been arrested across the country, police said shortly after midnight.
Celebrities including star footballer Kylian Mbappe expressed outrage and grief at the death of the teenager, while the government issued rare criticism of the security forces in a bid to cool tempers.
‘A teenager was killed. That is inexplicable and unforgivable,’ Macron said during an official visit to Marseille in southern France.
‘Nothing can justify the death of a young person.’
Nael’s surname has not been released by authorities or by his family.
His mother called for a silent march on Thursday in his honour in the square where he was killed, while activists renewed calls to tackle what they see as systemic police abuse.
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