At least 150 arrested in protests across France over police killing of teen

Around 2,000 riot police were deployed to Paris and its surrounding suburbs

PARIS (AFP) – Authorities said 150 people were arrested overnight after violent demonstrations erupted for a second night in a row, with protesters burning rubbish and clashing with security forces over the fatal police shooting of a teenager. French President Emmanuel Macron has convened crisis talks for Thursday morning.

The 17-year-old victim, identified only as Nahel M., was shot in the chest at point-blank range on Tuesday morning in an incident that has reignited debate in France about police tactics, which have long been criticised by rights groups over the treatment of ethnic minorities in the low-income suburbs.

The teenager's mother called for a march on Thursday in tribute to her only child.

As night fell on Wednesday, clashes spread from neighbourhoods around the capital to other French cities, including Toulouse, Dijon and Lyon.

Around 2,000 riot police were deployed to Paris and its surrounding suburbs, with Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin saying 150 people had been arrested overnight.

In the western Hauts-de-Seine region of Paris, where the shooting took place, a second consecutive night of clashes erupted as masked demonstrators dressed in black launched fireworks and firecrackers at security forces.

In the working class 18th and 19th arrodissements (districts) of northeastern Paris, police fired flashballs to disperse protesters burning rubbish. The crowd responded by throwing bottles.

"We are sick of being treated like this. This is for Nahel, we are Nahel," said two young men calling themselves "Avengers" as they wheeled rubbish bins from a nearby estate to add to a burning barricade.

One said his family had lived in France for three generations but lamented, "they are never going to accept us".

Graffiti sprayed on the walls of one building proclaimed "Justice for Nahel" and "Police kill".

'Unforgivable'

The government on Wednesday issued a rare criticism of the security forces.

"A teenager was killed. That is inexplicable and unforgivable," President Emmanuel Macron said during an official visit to Marseille, southern France.

Last year, 13 people were killed after refusing to stop for police traffic checks, with a law change in 2017 that gave officers greater powers to use their weapons now under scrutiny.

In the Essonne region south of the capital, a group set a bus on fire after forcing all the passengers off, police said, while in Clamart a tram was set on fire.

In the southern city of Toulouse, several cars were torched and responding police and firefighters pelted with projectiles, a police source said, while authorities reported similar scenes in Dijon and Lyon.

At France's second-largest prison complex, Fresnes, protesters attacked security at the entrance with fireworks, a police source told AFP.

"They did not enter the prison grounds. The police were quickly called in," the source added.

Police told AFP that in Seine-Saint-Denis multiple cars, stores and a library were set on fire, shops looted, police stations attacked and town halls damaged.

Tensions also flared in Roubaix, Amiens and Nice.

Hoping to tamp down the spreading violence, authorities have pleaded for calm.

'Hurting for France'

The victim was pulled over for breaking traffic rules while driving a yellow Mercedes on Tuesday morning.

Police initially reported that an officer had shot at the teenager because he was driving at him, but this was contradicted by a video circulating on social media and authenticated by AFP.

The footage shows the two policemen standing by the side of the stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at the driver.

A voice is heard saying: "You are going to get a bullet in the head."

The police officer then appears to fire as the car abruptly drives off.

The victim, Nahel, was a delivery driver from Nanterre who had dropped out of high school.

He "wasn't a delinquent", a 55-year-old woman who said she knew him told AFP near his home on Wednesday.

"What I see on this video is the execution by police of a 17-year-old kid, in France, in 2023, in broad daylight," said Greens party leader Marine Tondelier.

But far-right leader Marine Le Pen said the officer was entitled to the "presumption of innocence".

The 38-year old policeman filmed firing the lethal shot was taken into custody and is under investigation for voluntary manslaughter.

Nahel M.'s lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, said he would file an additional complaint for false testimony over the allegation that Nahel had tried to run them over.

There were two passengers in the car. One ran off and the other, also a teenager, was briefly detained.

Celebrities also voiced outrage.

"I am hurting for my France," tweeted Kylian Mbappé, captain of the French men's national football team and star player at Paris Saint-Germain.