France violence: 13 buses set on fire in Aubervilliers after teenager shot dead

Seine-Saint-Denis: At least thirteen buses from the RATP depot in Aubervilliers were set on fire after a teenager was shot dead in a fatal police shooting in Nanterre, BFM TV reported.

BFM TV is a 24-hour rolling news and weather channel based in France and available globally via digital, cable and satellite television.
With the looting, fires, and firing of fireworks, Paris and its suburbs were plagued on Thursday by a new incident of violence after the death of the teenager 17, identified as Nal after being stopped for a traffic violation in the Paris suburb town of Nanterre on Tuesday. The officer who is accused of shooting him was taken to jail.

Till now, at least 421 people have been arrested across France in protests, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told CNN affiliate BFMTV.

Of those, 242 arrests took place in the Paris region in the departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne, BFMTV said citing Paris police.

Earlier, the lawyer of the police officer under formal investigation for the fatal shooting of a French teenager slammed the treatment of his client as “political,” claiming his prosecution was being used to try and calm the violent tensions.

“He committed an act in a second, in a fraction of a second. Perhaps he made a mistake, justice will tell,” Laurent-Franck Lienard, the officer’s lawyer told CNN affiliate BFMTV in an interview.

The officer is “devastated” by the death of the teenager Nahel, his lawyer said, adding that he didn’t want to kill him.

Taking to Twitter, French President Emmanuel Macron, on Thursday, said, “Violence against police stations, schools, town halls, against the Republic, is unjustifiable. Thank you to the police, gendarmes, firefighters and elected officials mobilized. Meditation, Justice and calm must guide the next few hours”.

He also convened a crisis meeting with senior ministers on Thursday in the wake of the situation, CNN reported.

Speaking at the meeting, Macron said: “Clearly the emotion that comes with the death of a young man calls for contemplation and calm, and it’s what the government has constantly called for. I think this is what should continue to guide the next hours and the tributes.”

Calling the violence “absolutely unjustifiable”, the French President thanked those who are working to bring back calm.

“The last hours have been marked by violent scenes against police stations but also schools and town halls, and basically against institutions and the Republic. It’s absolutely unjustifiable,” Macron said.

He added, “I would like to thank those who are out during the night, like yesterday, to protect these institutions and bring back calm”.

In another statement, Macron defended the ‘right to protest’ and urged people to maintain calm.

“We have always safeguarded the right to protest…but we need harmony and we need a lot of collective goodwill,” President Emmanuel Macron told the newspaper Ouest France, while urging calm, reported France24.