Global Courant
STORY: Violence engulfed major French cities for the third night in a row after police shot dead a 17-year-old named only as “Nahel M,” a teenager of Algerian and Moroccan descent.
Media reports citing French officials say hundreds of people have been arrested.
Rioters set up barricades in Nanterre, the working-class town outside Paris where Nahel was shot dead on Tuesday.
Their advance towards police lines under a hail of fireworks was halted as police fired round after round of tear gas.
In their anger, rioters set fire to cars and large fences.
Police pushing into Nanterre ran past graffiti left by the rioters: “Nahel, we love you” – and obscenities were uttered against the authorities underneath.
Police say the teen fled a traffic stop, in an incident captured on a smartphone camera and shared on social media.
The officer who fired the deadly shot at close range is under investigation for voluntary manslaughter and remains in custody.
The teen’s death has sparked complaints of systemic racism and police brutality, which police deny.
Forty thousand agents were reportedly deployed across France on Thursday, almost four times as many as the day before.
But there are few signs that calls from the government to de-escalate the violence – including from French leader Emanuel Macron – could quell the widespread anger.
Local authorities in Clamart, 8 kilometers from central Paris, have imposed a curfew until Monday.
Police also reported incidents related to fires and fireworks. in Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse and Lille.
Clips shared on social media on Thursday also showed rioters in central Paris attempting to loot a Nike sportswear store.
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