Pictures have emerged of France’s president partying with Elton John as his country burned amid scenes of rioting and looting following the death “by execution” of a teenager in Paris.
Emmanuel Macron was filmed at Paris’s Accor Arena on Wednesday evening, watching the singer on his farewell tour, while his citizens rioted in the same city in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old youth. The president was photographed alongside his wife arm in arm with the legendary artist – on whom he bestowed France’s Legion of Honour award.
And as he mingled with musicians and celebrities backstage, police were engaged in bloody clashes with protesters as public anger spilled onto the streets of major cities in France for a third consecutive night.
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Protesters were seen setting fire to vehicles, barricading roads and hurling objects at police. Other rioters scrawled ‘Vengeance for Nahel’ – the first name of the dead youth – on buildings and walls. Nearby, a bank was reportedly torched.
In an escalation of the rioting, violence spread into Belgium, stoking concerns that protests could erupt in other European cities. Riot police were seen storming the streets in Anneessens, central Brussels. Protesters wearing hoodies and masks clashed with officers and torched cars, deploying fireworks as weapons in the streets.
Meanwhile, in France, around 40,000 French police officers were deployed nationwide in an attempt to gain back some control on the city streets. However, when the pictures of Mr Macron’s and Elton John emerged, outrage was quickly reignited.
Thierry Mariani, an MEP with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, told reporters: “While France was on fire, Macron applauded Elton John”.
The violence continued unabated despite news that the officer accused of the killing had been charged with voluntary homicide. Prosecutor Pascal Prache said an initial investigation had led him to conclude “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met”.
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Mr Prache said officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish licence plates in a bus lane. He is alleged to have run a red light to avoid being stopped but got stuck in traffic. Both officers involved said they drew their guns to stop him fleeing.
The officer who fired a single shot said he feared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car, Mr Prache added. The officers claimed they felt ‘threatened’ as the car drove off.
A morning crisis meeting resulted in French interior minister Gerald Darmanin increasing the number of police on the streets nationwide from 9,000 to 40,000. However, he stopped short of declaring a state of emergency, the measure taken to quell weeks of rioting in 2005.
He said officers made more than 180 arrests before Thursday and that there would be more, warning that “the state’s response will be extremely firm”.
In the south of the country, the giant port city of Marseille reported signs of unrest on Thursday evening, with several hundred young people roaming the city centre, setting fire to rubbish bins, including near the region’s main administrative building. Police dispersed most of those gathered and made several arrests. One officer was injured.
The death of the teenager was captured on video and shocked the nation, stirring long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The dead person’s family have not claimed that the shooting was race-related.
Mr Darmanin said 170 officers had been injured since the rioting began but no injuries had been recorded as life-threatening. At least 90 public buildings were damaged. There were no figures given on civilian injuries.
Scenes of violence in France’s suburbs echo 2005, when the deaths of 15-year-old Bouna Traore and 17-year-old Zyed Benna led to three weeks of nationwide riots, exposing anger and resentment in neglected, crime-ridden suburban housing projects. The two boys were electrocuted after hiding from police in a power substation in a Paris suburb.
Videos of Tuesday’s shooting shared online show two police officers leaning into the driver-side window of a yellow car before the vehicle pulls away as one officer fires into the window. The videos show the car later crashed into a post nearby. The driver died at the scene, the prosecutor’s office said.
Football star Kylian Mbappe, who has scored 40 goals for France in 70 appearances for the national team, grew up in the Paris suburb of Bondy, and was among those who expressed their shock at what happened. “I hurt for my France,” he wrote on Twitter.
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