As violence continues to intensify in France over the brutal police shooting of a 17-year-old, young rioters clashed with police and looted stores in a fourth day of violence.
According to the officials, around 900 arrests have been made on Friday while over 200 police personnel were injured.
The violence erupted in France just over a year before Paris and other French cities are due to host 10,500 Olympians and millions of visitors for the summer Olympic Games.
Picture of violence and killing across the country
France witnessed brazen daylight violence on Friday despite repeated government appeals for calm and stricter policing.
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As per media reports, an Apple store was looted in the eastern city of Strasbourg, where police fired tear gas.
Besides, windows of a fast-food outlet were smashed in a Paris-area shopping mall as police tried stopping people trying to break into a shuttered store.
Police made almost 90 arrests in the southern port city of Marseille where young people hurled projectiles, set fires, and looted shops.
On Friday evening, looters broke into a Marseille gun shop and made off with weapons, and a man was later arrested with a hunting rifle, police said.
Authorities in the city of Lyon reported rioters again setting fires and pelting police in the suburbs.
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In the city centre, police made 21 arrests to stop the attempted looting of shops after an unauthorized protest against police violence that drew about 1,300 people Friday evening.
Violence was also erupting in some of France's territories overseas.
In French Guiana, a 54-year-old was killed by a stray bullet Thursday night when rioters fired at police in the capital, Cayenne, authorities said. On the small Indian Ocean island of Reunion, protesters set garbage bins ablaze, threw projectiles at police, and damaged cars and buildings, officials said.
Some 150 officers were deployed there Friday night.
How the government is responding?
Despite the intense situation across the country, French President Macron is yet to declare a state of emergency, an option that was used in similar circumstances in 2005.
Instead, in a bid ro restore order, his government ratcheted up its law enforcement response.
Already massively beefed-up police forces were boosted by another 5,000 officers for Friday night, increasing the number to 45,000 overall, the interior minister said. Some were called back from vacation.
The minister, Gerald Darmanin, said police made 917 arrests on Thursday alone and noted their young age — 17 on average. He said more than 300 police officers and firefighters have been injured.
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Darmanin also ordered a nationwide nighttime shutdown of all public buses and trams, which have been among rioters' targets.
Government accuses social media platforms
A warning to social networks has been given that they can't allow themselves to be used as channels for calls to violence.
“We will pursue every person who uses these social networks to commit violent acts,” Darmanin said.
“And we will take all necessary measures if we become aware that social networks, whoever they are, don't respect the law.”
Macron, too, zeroed in on social media platforms that have relayed dramatic images of vandalism and cars and buildings being torched, saying they are playing a “considerable role” in the violence. Singling out Snapchat and TikTok, he said they were being used to organize unrest and serving as conduits for copycat violence.
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Macron said his government would work with technology companies to establish procedures for “the removal of the most sensitive content,” adding that he expected “a spirit of responsibility” from them.
Investigation and legal actions taken so far
Following the incident, the police officer accused of pulling the trigger was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide.
According to the Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache, his initial investigation led him to conclude “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met".
Prache also later added that officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish license plates in a bus lane.
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He ran a red light to avoid being stopped then got stuck in traffic. Both officers involved said they drew their guns to prevent him from fleeing.
The officer who fired a single shot said he feared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car, according to Prache.
The officers said they felt “threatened” as the car drove off.
Two magistrates are leading the investigation, Prache said.
Under French law, which differs from the U.S. and British legal systems, magistrates often lead investigations.
The police officer has been placed in provisional detention, according to the prosecutor's office.
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Killing of 17-year-old Nahel
The fatal shooting of the 17-year-old, who has only been identified by his first name Nahel, shook the entire nation and triggered a long-simmering tension between police and young people in housing projects and disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Nahel's mother, identified as Mounia M, told France 5 television that she was angry at the officer but not at the police in general.
“He saw a little Arab-looking kid, he wanted to take his life,” she said, adding that justice should be “very firm.”
“A police officer cannot take his gun and fire at our children, take our children's lives,” she said.
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Nahel's burial is scheduled for Saturday, according to Nanterre Mayor Patrick Jarry, who said France needs to “push for changes” in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
