French police have been at war with “vermin” since a 17-year-old boy in Nanterre, France, was shot dead by a police officer at a traffic light. That’s what two major police unions say. In a statement, they lash out at the predominantly young rioters who have taken to the streets since the fatal shooting incident. Cars are set on fire, shops looted and police officers attacked.
Violent riots have been taking place in major cities in France since the boy’s death, including Marseille, Lyon and Paris. Nearly 250 officers were injured. According to international media, thousands of cars have already been set on fire and hundreds have been arrested. It is no longer enough to call for calm, which must be imposed, according to Alliance Police Nationale and UNSA Police, who represent half of the police force.
In France, 45,000 police officers will be deployed across the country on Friday evening, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told TV channel TF1. In the night from Thursday to Friday alone, 917 people were arrested. The average age of those detained was 17, Darmanin said. The police will deploy armored vehicles.
The French police unions state that it is a “fight against vermin” and that all means must be used to restore the rule of law. “Today, policemen are at the front because we are at war,” they said. “Tomorrow we will be in resistance.”
In the center of the capital, the well-known Forum Les Halles shopping center was looted and rioters and looters targeted several shops in the famous Rue de Rivoli. The riots have also spread to Belgium.
The right-wing opposition has insisted on declaring a state of emergency that gives governments and police more powers, but President Macron’s government would not opt for that yet. In similar riots in November 2005, then-President Jacques Chirac declared a state of emergency.
‘Unexplainable’
The killed boy in a suburb of Paris did not have a driver’s license and drove away from the officers, whereupon fire was opened and he was hit in the chest. Images of it went viral on social media. The boy was of Algerian descent. He will be buried on Saturday.
The police are accused of racism by the United Nations, among others. Macron condemned the police’s actions in the arrest, saying that “it is inexplicable.” The incident is under further investigation. The officer involved is in custody and will be charged with manslaughter.
The French government rejects the accusation of racism in the police. “Any accusations of racism or systemic discrimination within the police force in France are totally baseless,” the foreign ministry said.