Image: APA/AFP/FREDERICK FLORIN
On the sixth night, the violent riots in France seemed to subside: on Monday night it was relatively quiet compared to the unrest before, with more than 1000 arrests and hundreds of burning cars and buildings. According to the French Ministry of the Interior, “only” 157 people were arrested on Monday night, according to sources from the BFMTV television station, a further 29 arrests were made by 1:30 a.m.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had put on a massive police presence for the third night in a row. 45,000 police officers were deployed across the country, again with armored vehicles. Darmanin reportedly gave renewed orders to act decisively and arrest rioters as soon as possible. But there was also one dead: A 24-year-old firefighter died in action extinguishing burning vehicles in an underground car park in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
In an emotional appeal on Sunday evening, the grandmother of the youth, whose death on Tuesday the previous week triggered the unrest, also wished for an end to the violence.
Grandma’s Appeal
“Fortunately, the police are there. I say to the people who are breaking something: Stop it,” said the woman. The rioters “used their 17-year-old grandson, who was shot by a police officer, as an excuse,” she told broadcaster BFMTV. Although she was angry with the officials, she did not want to generalize. The policeman will be punished like everyone else: “I have faith in the judiciary.”
220 French cities have been affected by the riots in the past few nights. According to media reports, President Emmanuel Macron wants to meet the mayors today, Tuesday, in the Elysee Palace to “review the situation”.
Across the country, the mayors themselves set an example on Monday. They held midday rallies in front of the town halls in numerous cities for an end to the violence and also invited the population to participate. A direct reason was the events in L’Hay-les-Roses, a small town ten kilometers south of central Paris, on Sunday night: Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun had to flee his house with his family after attackers set fire to it.
Source: Nachrichten
