PARIS: French authorities Thursday braced for more violent protests in the coming nights over the fatal shooting of a teen by a policeman, as they scrambled to contain an escalating crisis, halting public transport and enforcing curfews.
According to an internal security note, the “coming nights” are expected “to be the theater of urban violence” with “actions targeted at the forces of order and the symbols of the state,” a police source said.
One Paris suburb, Clamart, has already declared an overnight curfew, between 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) and 6:00 am from Thursday until next Monday.
In a show of tensions, a memorial march for 17-year-old Nahel M. ended with riot police firing tear gas as several cars were set alight in the Paris suburb where he was killed.
France has been hit by protests after Nahel was shot point-blank Tuesday during a traffic stop captured on video that has unleashed rage and reignited debate about police tactics.
“The whole world must see that when we march for Nahel, we march for all those who were not filmed,” activist Assa Traore, whose brother died after being arrested in 2016, told the rally led by the teenager’s mother.
The policeman accused of shooting Nahel in Nanterre was charged with voluntary homicide and remanded in custody, but it remained to be seen what impact that may have on the unrest.
Some 40,000 police have been mobilized to try to keep the peace on Thursday, more than four times Wednesday’s numbers on the ground when dozens were arrested.
Cars and bins were torched Wednesday night in parts of the country, while some 150 people were arrested nationwide following clashes and unrest that left a tramway’s carriages on fire in a Paris suburb.
Paris bus and tram services will be halted after 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) Thursday, the region’s president said.
President Emmanuel Macron has called for calm and said the protest violence was “unjustifiable.”
The riots are deeply troubling for Macron who had been looking to move past a half-year of sometimes violent protests over his controversial pension reform.
The teenager was killed as he pulled away from police who tried to stop him for traffic infractions.
A video, authenticated by AFP, showed two policemen standing by the side of the stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at the driver.
A voice is heard saying: “You are going to get a bullet in the head.”
The police officer then appears to fire as the car abruptly drives off.
Clashes first erupted as the video emerged, contradicting police accounts that the teenager was driving at the officer.
On Wednesday night, anger spread to Toulouse, Dijon and Lyon, as well as several towns in the Paris region.
Overnight Wednesday to Thursday, masked demonstrators dressed in black launched fireworks at security forces near the scene of Nahel M.’s killing.
A thick column of smoke billowed above the area where a dozen cars and garbage cans were set ablaze and barriers blocked off roads.
Graffiti on the walls of one building called for “justice for Nahel” and said, “police kill.”
In Paris, police fired flashballs to disperse protesters who responded by throwing bottles.
In the southern city of Toulouse, several cars were torched and police and firefighters pelted with projectiles.
At France’s second-largest prison complex, Fresnes, protesters attacked security at the entrance with fireworks.
The town hall of Mons-en-Baroeul outside the northern city of Lille was set on fire when some 50 hooded people stormed the building, the mayor told AFP.
Authorities in Lille stepped up measures Thursday aimed at preventing fresh violence, including a ban on gatherings and deploying drones.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, speaking in a town north of Paris where the mayor’s office had been set on fire, said “obviously all escalation has to be avoided.”
France is haunted by the prospect of a repeat of 2005 riots, sparked by the death of two boys of African origin in a police chase, during which 6,000 people were arrested.
“There are all the ingredients for another explosion potentially,” one government adviser told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The head of the right-wing Republicans, Eric Ciotti, called for a state of emergency, which allows local authorities to create no-go areas, but a government source told AFP this option was not currently on the table.
There has been growing concern over police tactics, particularly against young men from non-white minorities.
Last year, 13 people were killed after refusing to stop for police traffic checks, with a law change in 2017 that gave officers greater powers to use their weapons now under scrutiny.
“What I see on this video is the execution by police of a 17-year-old kid, in France, in 2023, in broad daylight,” said Greens party leader Marine Tondelier.
Police brace for more violent protests over French teen’s killing
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Police brace for more violent protests over French teen’s killing
- According to an internal security note, the ‘coming nights’ are expected ‘to be the theater of urban violence’
- France is haunted by the prospect of a repeat of 2005 riots, sparked by the death of two boys of African origin in a police chase
Switzerland mourns Crans-Montana fire tragedy
- All of Switzerland will mark a national day of mourning Friday for the dozens of mostly teenagers killed when fire ravaged a ski resort bar crammed with New Year revellers
CRANS MONTANA: All of Switzerland will mark a national day of mourning Friday for the dozens of mostly teenagers killed when fire ravaged a ski resort bar crammed with New Year revellers.
Just over a week after the tragedy at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, which left 40 dead and 116 injured, the wealthy Alpine nation will come to a standstill for a minute of silence at 2:00 p.m. (1300 GMT).
A chorus of church bells will then ring throughout the country.
The moment of silence will stand as a “testament to the shared grief felt by the entire nation with all the families and friends directly affected,” the Swiss government said in a statement.
At the same time, a memorial ceremony for the victims will be held in Martigny, a town about 50 kilometers (31 miles) down the valley from Crans-Montana, which had been rendered all but inaccessible by a large snowstorm.
Inhabitants of the plush ski resort town will meanwhile be able to watch the ceremony as it is livestreamed to large screens, including at the congress center that for days after the tragedy accommodated families seeking news of missing loved ones.
Among ‘worst tragedies’
A memorial that has sprung up in front of the bar, loaded with flowers, candles and messages of grief and support, was covered in an igloo-like tarp Thursday to protect it from the heavy snowfall.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who has declared the fire “one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced,” will be joined for the ceremony by his French and Italian counterparts, whose countries lost nine and six nationals respectively in the fire.
Top officials from Belgium, Luxembourg, Serbia and the European Union were also due to participate in the ceremony.
Most of those impacted by the inferno at Le Constellation were Swiss, but a total of 19 nationalities were among the fatalities and the wounded.
Half of those killed in the blaze were under 18, including some as young as 14.
Of those injured, 83 remain in hospital, with the most severely burned airlifted to specialist centers across Switzerland and abroad.
Prosecutors believe the blaze started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to sound insulation foam on the ceiling in the bar’s basement section.
Experts have suggested that what appeared to be highly flammable foam may have caused a so-called flashover — a near-simultaneous ignition of everything in an enclosed space, trapping many of the young patrons.
Video footage which has emerged from the tragedy shows young people desperately trying to flee the scene, some breaking windows to try to force their way out.
On Tuesday, municipal authorities acknowledged that no fire safety inspections had been conducted at Le Constellation since 2019, prompting outrage.
‘Staggering’
The investigation underway will seek to shed light on the responsibilities of the authorities, but also of bar owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti.
The French couple, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, have been called in for questioning on Friday, sources close to the investigation told AFP.
The pair, who have not been detained, said in a statement Tuesday that they were “devastated and overwhelmed with grief,” and pledged their “full cooperation” with investigators.
They will need to answer numerous questions about why so many minors were in the bar, and whether fire safety standards were adhered to.
There has been much focus on the soundproofing foam, which, according to photos taken by the owners, had been added during renovations in 2015.
A video filmed by a member of the public, screened Monday by Swiss broadcaster RTS, showed that the danger was known years ago.
“Watch out for the foam!,” a bar employee said during 2019 New Year’s Eve celebrations, as champagne bottles with sparklers were brought out.
“This video is staggering,” Romain Jordan, a lawyer representing several affected families, told AFP, saying it showed “there was an awareness of this risk — and that possibly this risk was accepted.”
