French police fire tear gas at protesters as country braces for fifth night of riots
Police in France have used tear gas on protesters in Marseille as the country braces itself for a fifth night of riots – which have been sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old boy.
Officers used the chemical to disperse the group on a main high street in the city around dusk on today (1 July), witnesses claim.
The clashes follow the funeral of the boy, only identified as Nahel M, in Paris earlier today, who was shot by police during a traffic stop on Tuesday.
Footage shared on social media, which has not been verified by i, shows police in riot gear moving through the centre of the city and an officer hurling a cannister.
Meanwhile police in Paris cleared protesters from the Place de la Concorde, as well as increasing security at the city’s landmark Champs Elysees avenue, after social media users urged protesters to gather there.
Today 45,000 police officers were deployed in cities across France today in a bid to curb riots, which have seen protesters clash with police, target buildings and loot shops.
France has also dispatched elite GIGN commandos to reinforce police.
President Emmanuel Macron also postponed his visit to Germany due to begin on Sunday to handle to allow him to attempt to tackle worst crisis during his tenure as leader since the “Yellow Vest” protests paralysed much of France in late 2018.
Last night more than 1,300 people were arrested in a fourth night of protests, compared with 875 the previous night.
The interior ministry said last night’s violence was “lower in intensity”.
Finance minister Bruno Le Maire said more than 700 shops supermarkets, restaurants and bank branches had been “ransacked, looted and sometimes even burnt to the ground since Tuesday”.
Local authorities all over the country announced bans on demonstrations and ordered public transport to stop running in the evening.
At the boy’s funeral funeral held at a mosque, several hundred people lined up to enter the mosque, which was guarded by volunteers in yellow vests, while a few dozen bystanders watched from across the street.
Protesters claim the shooting of the boy, who is of North African decent, was racially motivated.
Police claim the youngster was initially stopped because he was driving a Mercedes with Polish licence plates in a bus lane at 7.55am – and looked very young.
It is alleged by the force that he was shot after trying to ram into officers.
But a video allegedly shared recorded by a witness to the shooting shows two policemen stood next to a stationery car and pointing a weapon at the driver.
A voice is heard saying: “You are going to get a bullet in the head”.
The boy is also seen driving off as a single shot is fired.
Additional reporting by Reuters.
