French President Emmanuel Macron called a crisis meeting on Thursday and condemned “unjustified violence” after a second night of clashes sparked by the death of a teenager killed by police near Paris, AFP reported.

The charred facade of the Hotel du Ville in Garges-les-Honesses, north of Paris, two days after a 17-year-old boy was shot in the chest by police at close range in NanterrePhoto: Bertrand GUAY / AFP / Profimedia

After the death of 17-year-old Nahel M. during traffic control on Tuesday, tensions in the Paris suburbs gradually increased, after which arson attacks and clashes with police spread to other cities overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.

At the opening of a meeting of the interministerial crisis group, which he convened at the Ministry of the Interior, Macron condemned “unjustified violence” against “institutions and the Republic.”

“Town halls, schools and police stations” were “burnt or attacked,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanen said on Twitter, adding that 150 people had been arrested in the latest night of tension.

France has several times become the scene of urban violence, caused by the death of young people, often from the Maghreb and other countries of the African continent, after the intervention of the police. In 2015, the deaths of two teenagers who were being chased by law enforcement officers sparked riots that lasted for three weeks.

A teenager was shot at close range

The event that sparked the new violence occurred on Tuesday, when Nachel M. was fatally shot at close range by a police officer on a motorcycle in Nanterre, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, 15 km west of Paris.

The version of the police, according to which the boy hit a policeman with a car, was refuted by a video in which the words “you will get a bullet in the head” can be heard, and their author cannot be identified.

The policeman suspected in the shooting, who is currently in a pretrial detention center, was scheduled to appear before a judge for possible indictment.

At the initiative of the dead man’s mother, who shared her feelings of “rebellion”, a march is to take place in Nanterre from 14:00 (12:00 GMT) under strict police supervision.

On Thursday morning, Emmanuel Macron expressed his desire for the “next hours” to be hours of “recollection” and “respect”.

Nakheel’s death has renewed controversy surrounding the actions of law enforcement agencies in France, which recorded a record 13 deaths in 2022 due to refusal to obey traffic controls. (Agerpress)