French mayor’s home torched; 700 more arrested to quell riots

Paris, July 2

Rioters clashed with the police early on Sunday and targeted a mayor’s home with a burning car, injuring members of his family, as France saw a fifth night of unrest after the police killing of a teenager. Overall violence, however, appeared to lessen from previous nights.

Shot teenager’s granny urges End to violence

• The grandmother of the teenager shot dead by police during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb said on Sunday she wanted the nationwide rioting triggered by his killing to end
• She said the rioters were using 17-year-old Nahel’s death as an excuse to cause havoc and that the family wanted calm. “I’m telling them (the rioters) to stop,” said the grandmother. Rioters have so far torched cars and looted stores, but also targeted state institutions

The police made 719 arrests nationwide by early Sunday following a mass security deployment aimed at quelling France’s worst social upheaval in years. The government poured 45,000 police onto the streets to try to keep a lid on the unrest after Saturday’s funeral of Nahel, a 17-year-old with Algerian and Moroccan parents, who was shot during a traffic stop on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

As night fell Saturday, a small crowd gathered on the Champs-Elysees to protest his death and police violence but met hundreds of officers with batons and shields guarding the avenue and its boutiques.

In a less chic Paris neighborhood, protesters set off firecrackers and lit barricades on fire as police shot back with tear gas and stun grenades.

A burning car hit the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of l’Hay-les-Roses. Several schools, police stations, town halls and stores have been targeted by fires or vandalism in recent days but such a personal attack on a mayor’s home is unusual.

President Emmanuel Macron planned to hold a special security meeting Sunday evening with Borne, Darmanin and the justice minister. — AP