France has announced the suspension of all bus and tram services as violent protests continue to grip the nation following a police shooting. The unrest erupted after a 17-year-old was shot by police during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday. Over the past three nights, demonstrators have taken to the streets, setting cars on fire and engaging in clashes involving stones and fireworks.
President Emmanuel Macron has called on parents to keep their teenagers at home in an effort to curb the riots that have engulfed French cities. Macron also pointed to social media as a factor fueling copycat violence, attributing it to playing a “significant role in the events of the past few days.”
Following the teenager’s death, at least 667 individuals were arrested across France during Thursday night’s protests. The number of deployed police officers increased to 40,000 on Thursday, nearly four times the amount mobilized the day before. Despite the government’s appeals for calm, the situation has shown little signs of de-escalating. In Nanterre, where the shooting occurred, protesters set cars ablaze, erected barricades, and launched projectiles at the police following a vigil.
National police reported new incidents in various parts of the country, including Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse, and Lille, involving fires and fireworks. In a heartfelt gesture, the police officer responsible for the teenager’s death sought forgiveness from the boy’s family, according to his lawyer Laurent-Franck Lienard.
