At least 40,000 police officers are being deployed across France to deal with protests triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver. The teenager, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range as he refused a traffic stop and drove away. At least 180 people have been arrested after a second night of unrest, while 170 officers were injured, France's interior minister says. French president Emmanuel Macron has described the violence that spread throughout the country as “unjustifiable.”
He was speaking at the start of a crisis meeting with senior ministers. On Wednesday the president also said the fatal shooting was “inexcusable.”
The interior ministry said dozens of police officers were injured during the clashes.
“A night of unbearable violence against symbols of the Republic: town halls, schools and police stations put ablaze or attacked. 150 arrests,” Darmanin said on his Twitter account.
In Nanterre, where Nahel was shot, a march organised by the teenager's mother is taking place in his memory.
The police officer who shot the teenager has been placed under formal investigation for voluntary homicide.
French President Emmanuel Macron has held a crisis meeting and called the violence on the streets "unjustifiable" in appealing for calm.
Nahel came from a French-Algerian family, a neighbour told Reuters news agency. Their tally found that most of those killed by police in traffic stops since 2017 were black or Arab.
