Protests in France continued for a second night as security personnel deployed in their numbers to quell demonstrations following the death of a 17-year-old by police.
French President Emmanuel Macron has described the situation as “inexcusable” while also pleading for calm as justice takes its course.
Protests in numerous towns around Paris erupted on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin claiming that 150 arrests had been made across the country and that town halls, schools, and police stations had been set on fire or attacked.
Approximately 2,000 riot police were summoned out in Paris neighborhoods on Wednesday night in response to the teenager’s tragic point-blank shooting during a traffic stop in the Paris district of Nanterre on Tuesday morning.
The victim, Nahel M from Nanterre, was stopped by two police officers on Tuesday morning for breaking traffic laws while operating a yellow Mercedes.
Police initially stated that an officer shot at the boy because he was driving his car towards him, but a video circulating on social media contradicted this account of events.
In response to the 17-year-old’s death, police claimed that demonstrators set fire to garbage cans and let off fireworks on Wednesday night.
Several cars were torched and responding police and firefighters were pelted with projectiles as thick black smoke billowed high into the sky.
