Key PointsOn Tuesday, French police fatally shot 17-year-old Nahel during a traffic stop after the teen ran a red light.The police officer was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide after the deadly shooting.Thousands have marched and rioted all over France in response to the shooting, leading to clashes with police.
A Paris region town of 54,000 people says it’s putting an overnight curfew in place, stretching through the weekend, in response to rioting triggered by the deadly police shooting of a suburban teenager.
The town of Clamart, in the French capital’s southwest suburbs, said on its website the overnight curfew would start at 9pm and last until 6am, from Thursday night through to Monday (5am Friday until 2am Monday, AEST).
It cited “the risk of new public order disturbances” for the decision, after two nights of urban unrest.
That same day, a police officer in a Paris suburb was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide after the deadly shooting of the 17-year-old.
Nahel’s mother raises her fist as she attends a march in memory of her 17-year-old son who was killed by French Police. Source: AAP, EPA / Yoan Valat
The 17-year-old, identified only by his first name, Nahel, was killed during a traffic stop on Tuesday.
Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish license plates in a bus lane.
He ran a red light to avoid being stopped but then got stuck in a traffic jam. 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 Mr Prache. The officers said they felt “threatened” as the car drove off.
The shooting captured on video shocked the country and stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
Prosecutor Mr Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met” in the shooting.
Protesters lob fireworks at police officers during a second night of rioting in Nanterre following the death of a 17-year-old at a roadside check. Source: AAP, ABACA, Press Association / Poitout Florian/Alamy
Under French law, preliminary charges mean investigating judges have strong reason to suspect wrongdoing but allow time for further investigation before a decision is made on whether to send the case to trial. The police officer has been placed in provisional detention, according to the prosecutor’s office.
After a morning crisis meeting, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the number of police officers deployed would increase from 9,000 to 40,000.
In the Paris region alone, the number of officers deployed would more than double to 5,000.
Despite a beefed-up police presence on Wednesday night, violence resumed after dusk with protesters shooting fireworks and hurling stones at police in Nanterre, who fired repeated volleys of tear gas.
As demonstrations spread to other towns, police, and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and extinguish numerous blazes. Schools, police stations, town halls, and other public buildings were damaged from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north, with most of the damage in the Paris suburbs, according to a spokesperson for the national police.
Fire damaged the town hall in the Paris suburb of L’Ile-Saint-Denis, not far from the country’s national stadium and the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Mr Darmanin said 170 officers had been injured in the unrest but none of the injuries was life-threatening. At least 90 public buildings were vandalised.
The number of civilians injured was not immediately released.
