After five days of violent protests against the shooting of adolescent Nahel M during a traffic stop, riots in France seem to be cooling down.
Violence decreased and fewer arrests were made on Sunday night.
The interior ministry has been instructed by President Emmanuel Macron to maintain a “massive” police presence on the streets.
Mayors demanded that protests against the violence and looting be organized outside town buildings on Monday.
Mayor Patrick Jarry of Nanterre, where Nahel comes from, expressed relief that the violence had subsided but cautioned that “we shouldn’t lose sight of the incident that sparked this situation and the continuing need for justice”.
Reims’ mayor declared to a throng of several hundred people that the rioters had “looted the businesses that they visit every day” in his city, which is just over two hours from Paris.
Even though Sunday night was much calmer, authorities took caution not to declare a Monday return to normalcy too soon.
The president has urged the interior ministry to maintain a “massive” police presence across France to ensure a “return to calm,” and buses and trams in the Paris region will once more be suspended early on Monday night.
The desolate estates in France’s banlieues are on fire once more.
that was the Nanterre policeman that shot Nahel M?
Over the previous three nights, 45,000 cops have been placed across the nation.
On Sunday night, fewer persons were taken into custody than the previous night—more than 150—than more than 700.
Compared to Thursday, there were 297 more cars that were set on fire than there were on Thursday, and 34 fewer buildings were damaged or burned down than on Thursday.
An association of the country’s mayors stated in a news release that “communes throughout France are the scene of serious unrest, which targets republican symbols with extreme violence.”
In one violent incident, rioters invaded the home of a suburban Paris mayor and launched rockets at his wife and children as they fled, shattering her leg and hurting one of the kids. It is being thought of as an attempted murder.
The family of Nahel, the adolescent murdered by police, demanded an end to the violence over the weekend.
His grandmother implored the rioters to cease damaging public property and accused them of exploiting Nahel’s passing as justification.
Although the family did not want his passing to cause unrest, a different relative told the BBC that the law regarding the use of lethal force during traffic stops has to be changed.
She also mentioned how the GoFundMe page for the family of the police officer who shot Nahel had received more than €1 million (£859,963) in donations as of Monday, adding that her “heart is in pain” about it.
However, the platform told French newspaper Le Parisien that GoFundMe’s terms and conditions were not being broken because the funds are intended for the officer’s family and “not meant for the legal defense of an alleged violent crime.” The fundraiser, which was started by a far-right media commentator, has drawn criticism from a number of politicians.
The mayors of 220 local regions that have been impacted by the violence will meet with President Macron on Tuesday.
According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, a 24-year-old firefighter was murdered on Sunday while attempting to extinguish five burning automobiles in an underground parking garage in Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
The interior ministry stated that an inquiry was underway to ascertain the causes of the fire, but a representative for the Paris fire service told the BBC that there is currently “no formal link” between the fire and the violence that has wracked France.
