Source: Attaque
Rage, everywhere
Le Monde / Thursday June 29, 2023
The night of Wednesday June 28 to Thursday June 29 was marked by major tension and damage in many Paris suburbs, with urban violence spreading to other French cities such as Toulouse and Lyon, following the death in Nanterre of Nahel M., a 17-year-old teenager killed by a police officer for refusing to obey orders.
Although calm in the early evening, the situation then became tense in the Hauts-de-Seine suburb, already the scene of clashes between residents and police during the night. More than a dozen cars and dumpsters were set on fire, and barriers were placed on the road, as Le Monde journalists observed. The walls of one building were tagged with the words “Justice for Nahel” and “Police kills”.
At 2 a.m., small, highly mobile groups were still clashing in the Pablo-Picasso district. Police forces had withdrawn and were no longer visible in a part of the housing estate that had come under the complete control of the rioters. The fire department has also retreated, according to our local reporter Luc Bronner.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had announced the mobilization of 2,000 police and gendarmes in Paris and its inner suburbs for Wednesday evening, 800 more than last night.
Incidents were also reported in several towns in the Hauts-de-Seine district. In Clamart, a tramway train was set on fire, according to a police source.
Around twenty communes in Seine-Saint-Denis reported incidents, according to a police source, sometimes in normally quiet towns such as Dugny. According to this source, each time there were groups of less than a hundred highly mobile people on the scene. The Préfecture de Police reported 35 arrests shortly before 2 a.m.
In Essonne, a group of people set fire to a bus at around 9 p.m. after removing the passengers in Viry-Châtillon, according to police sources. Clashes also broke out shortly after 8 p.m. in the Mirail district of Toulouse, where several vehicles were set on fire, with police and firefighters receiving projectiles, according to a police source.
In several areas of Dijon, the authorities reported the burning of rubbish dumpsters and the firing of fireworks. In Lyon and the surrounding area, as well as in Vénissieux, Bron and Villeurbanne, the police were targeted by firework mortars. A fire probably caused by pyrotechnic fireworks broke out in a building in Villeurbanne, leaving four people slightly injured, the fire department said. “Some apartments” were destroyed by the fire and ten households, or 35 people, were rehoused. Four people were also hospitalized with mild poisoning. In Vaulx-en-Velin, the police station was targeted before the police intervened.
Elsewhere, tensions were reported in Roubaix (Nord), Amiens and Nice, according to a police source. Some incidents, as in Saint-Etienne, Lille and Rennes, took place on the edges of rallies in support of Soulèvements de la Terre, the recently disbanded environmental movement.
The security post at the entrance to the Fresnes prison estate (Val-de-Marne) was attacked with fireworks by rioters on Wednesday night, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learnt from a police source.
Videos consulted by AFP show around twenty hooded youths attacking the guard post at the entrance to the estate with firework mortars and various projectiles.
The estate provides access to the warders’ residences, the prison, the women’s prison and the prison hospital. An alarm sounded during the attack, as shown in several videos posted on social networks. “They did not enter the prison. The police were quickly called in,” said the police source. The videos also show fires in the street leading to the prison.
The events leading up to the death of Nahel M., a 17-year-old resident of Nanterre, continued to provoke a torrent of political comment throughout Wednesday.
Calls for calm came from all sides, and the public authorities multiplied their statements to avoid a conflagration. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne commented that the “shocking images” posted on social networks showed a police intervention “that clearly does not comply with the rules of engagement for our forces of order”.
In the morning, Emmanuel Macron had spoken of an “inexplicable” and “inexcusable” act. At the request of the President of the Republic, the Minister Delegate for Urban Affairs, Olivier Klein, met with the teenager’s mother to offer the government’s “condolences” and assure her of the nation’s “support”.
In a video posted on TikTok, Nahel M.’s mother called for a white march on Thursday at 2pm in front of the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture, close to the scene of the fatal shooting, expressing her “revolt for [her] son”.
The 38-year-old police officer suspected of the fatal shooting is being questioned by the national police inspectorate (IGPN) as part of an investigation into voluntary manslaughter opened by the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office. His police custody was extended on Wednesday “with a view to opening a judicial inquiry” on Thursday morning, the public prosecutor’s office said.
The home of this police motorcyclist is under surveillance, according to the local authorities of his place of residence, following the dissemination of anonymous threats on social networks. “We will take administrative decisions to suspend him if ever charges are brought against him,” announced Mr. Darmanin.
The affair has reignited controversy over the action of law enforcement officers in France, where a record thirteen deaths were recorded in 2022 in connection with refusals to comply during roadside checks.
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The name and address of Nahel’s killer.
published on Wednesday 28 June 2023 on Indymedia Nantes, since disappeared
Here’s the name and address of the cop who murdered Mahel.
Florian MENESPLIER
16 rue alphen, BORNEL 60450
Source:
https://copainsdavant.linternaute.com/p/florian-menesplier-5356201
Solidarity with the rebels. Revenge for Nahel and all the others.
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Le Parisien / Thursday, June 29, 2023
Another night of violence. Late into the night on Wednesday, hundreds of people once again clashed with police in several towns in the Paris suburbs and across France, claiming they were “there for Nahel”. The 17-year-old was killed by a police officer on Tuesday after refusing to comply.
Although calm in the early evening, the situation then became particularly tense in Nanterre, already the scene of clashes between residents and police last night. Clashes continued into the middle of the night, with paving stones being thrown, to which the police responded by firing tear gas.
By Wednesday evening, the anger had spread throughout the Paris region. The security post at the entrance to the Fresnes prison estate (Val-de-Marne) was attacked with fireworks. Several police stations in the Paris region were also targeted last night, including those in Trappes, Gennevilliers, Meudon and Dammarie-les-Lys.
Urban violence spread to several French cities, including Toulouse, where several vehicles were set on fire. In Lyon and the surrounding area, police were targeted by firework mortars. A total of 150 people were arrested, according to a report released by Gérald Darmanin.
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Neuilly-sur-Marne (Seine-Saint-Denis): The municipality loses all its cars at once
excerpts from Le Parisien / Thursday June 29, 2023
[…] In Neuilly-sur-Marne, seven cars – the entire municipal police fleet – were set on fire in Place François-Mitterrand. The vehicles were parked at the foot of the building, and the fire spread to the housing department on the first floor.
In the Fauvettes district, tiles in the media library were broken and a fire broke out. It was quickly brought under control, according to Mayor Zartoshte Bakhtiari (DVD), who described the night’s events as “extremely shocking”. The previous day, the André-Chenier nursery school had also been vandalized, but the children were able to return to school on Thursday morning. […]
Elsewhere in the department, L’Île-Saint-Denis town hall was damaged by fire. In Romainville, the town hall was also damaged, and the departmental crèche in the Youri-Gagarine district was partially damaged by the flames.
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North of France: Mayhem in the Lille metropolitan area, Mons-en-Baroeul town hall targeted
excerpts from La Voix du Nord / Thursday, June 29, 2023
[…] Several fires were set at town halls, including that of Mons-en-Baroeul, reports France Bleu Nord, which interviewed the town’s mayor Rudy Elegeest: “They smashed the windows and kicked in the doors. I had municipal police officers in the town hall. They had to take refuge and hide so as not to fall victim to these acts. At around 12:30 a.m., we managed to get these officers out of the burning building.”
[…]
Several other buildings in the commune were set on fire: a village hall, a multi-purpose hall, a social action center and the premises of the municipal police, according to BFMTV. The commune’s mayor says it will take “a year or even several years to repair” all the damage.
The flames also engulfed the Porte de Douai metro station.
[…] Part of line 2 will be closed all morning this Thursday, warned Ilevia.
[…] Rioting also broke out in Roubaix, Tourcoing, Hem and Wattrelos, where the Mousserie social center and a Lidl store were reduced to ashes.
Elsewhere in the region, the night was tense in the Briquette district of Valenciennes. On the Gaumont site, a 400-seat restaurant, due to open in three weeks’ time, was ravaged by a devastating fire.
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In Toulouse, those who fight converge
extracts from La Depeche du Midi / Thursday June 29, 2023
Urban violence erupted late on Wednesday June 28, starting in the Reynerie district of Toulouse. Around fifty individuals set fire to vehicles and garbage cans near Place Abbal, in response to the fatal shooting of a police officer in Nanterre on Tuesday during a traffic stop. […]
The protesters attacked the police forces protecting the firefighters who had been called to the scene to extinguish the various fires caused by projectiles and mortar fire. Police used tear gas to contain them.
The confrontation in Place Abbal soon ceased. A few groups of young people then moved erratically around the Mirail district, being regularly dispersed by the police. At 11.50pm, the prefecture announced that the situation was calming down, but remained under vigilance.
13 people were arrested during the evening’s clashes between police and demonstrators. A total of 20 vehicles were burnt, including two mini-excavators located on the construction site in the heart of the district, and a scooter. A camera was also destroyed. No injuries were reported, but the prefecture said that “a weapon was used on a dangerous dog”. The dog was fatally shot and buried by local residents.
In the middle of the night, some 50 police officers and 16 firefighters were mobilized.
Meanwhile, in Blagnac, the fire department reports that the town was also “gripped by violence overnight, resulting in the mobilization of three vehicles and some fifteen firefighters”. According to the fire brigade, “30 garbage can fires and 32 light vehicle fires were dealt with” between Reynerie and Blagnac.
and France Bleu adds:
[…] New fires were set late in the night on the Bagatelle side, i.e. in the “intra-muros” part of Mirail, inside the ring road. During the night, ten kilometers away, a container was also set alight in the Mimosas district of Blagnac’s Grand-Noble sector, causing minor damage to the community center.
On site on Wednesday evening, our reporter noted the presence of several individuals wearing black balaclavas and claiming to be “anarchists” from outside the Mirail district, and France Bleu was able to speak to one of them. This is also what many local residents were saying on Thursday morning, denouncing the “blonde kids from the center of town”.
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In the Lyon metropolis
actuLyon / Thursday, June 29, 2023
[…] Fires and mortar fire were reported in La Duchère (9th arrondissement) in Lyon. The TCL network had to cancel bus services in this difficult district of Lyon.
The 8th arrondissement was also affected by the contagion of violence. The Maison de la Métropole was the target of an arson attack.
The Vaulx-en-Velin police station was the target of mortar fireworks, according to our information. Incidents were also reported in Vénissieux.
The facade of the Décines town hall was set on fire. The Prefect Delegate for Security, Ivan Bouchier, went to the scene in the morning.
Incidents also broke out in Bron, Tassin, Villefranche-sur-Saône and Saint-Genis Laval. Fires involving cars, vans, street furniture and dumpsters were reported in the conurbation, where 45 firefighting operations were recorded. […]
Incidents multiplied throughout the evening, leading to four arrests in the Lyon metropolitan area, according to the prefecture. One arrest was made on the sidelines of a demonstration in support of Soulèvement de la Terre, the environmental association dissolved by the government, which also turned into a demonstration in support of “justice for Nahel”.
Demonstrators attempted to attack the police station in the 3rd and 6th arrondissements. […]
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In Dijon and elsewhere in Burgundy
France 3 / Thursday June 29, 2023
Tensions escalated on the night of June 28-29 in Dijon (Côte-d’Or). Numerous incidents of damage were committed until 3 a.m. in Fontaine-d’Ouche, the Drapeau and Grésilles districts, Chenôve and Talant.
“Small groups of young people set fire to 21 dumpsters”, said the prefecture on Thursday. “One vehicle was burnt and two others damaged. Mortar fire was directed at police and firefighters. Nine police officers suffered minor injuries and one person was arrested.
The previous day, violence had already broken out in the Grésilles district. Around 30 people set fire to a vehicle shortly before 2 a.m.. The police, deployed to assist the fire department, were targeted by stone-throwing, Molotov cocktails and mortar fire. However, no one was arrested or injured.
Other incidents of urban violence were reported elsewhere in Burgundy. According to the Yonne prefecture, around twenty garbage can fires were reported in the department, as well as car fires. A total of 28 fire-fighters were mobilized during the night, for eight different incidents.
In Sens, a municipal police vehicle was vandalized. The police station was targeted by projectiles, resulting in two broken windows. The Migennes gendarmerie brigade was also targeted, but without damage. In Joigny, a car also caught fire, reports the Yonne Républicaine.
In Nièvre, a number of garbage can fires were reported in the Banlay district. Mortar shots were also fired and bus shelters damaged. […]
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In Strasbourg
actuStrasbourg / Thursday June 29, 2023
On the night of Wednesday June 28 to Thursday June 29, violence broke out in several neighborhoods in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old killed by police gunfire in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine). […]
The clashes started at around 10.30pm in several Strasbourg neighborhoods, mainly in Hautepierre and the Poteries district,” describes Christophe Rouyer, from the Alliance police nationale union.
On social networks, several videos also show mortar fire and firecrackers being fired in Cité de l’Ill, Meinau, Neuhof, Koenigshoffen and Schiltigheim.
“The violence was mainly urban, with damage and fires, particularly to cars and dumpsters. A total of 66 vehicles were set on fire, including 17 in the Leclerc parking lot in Schiltigheim, mainly rental vehicles”, describes Christophe Rouyer.
Calm was restored at around 4am. As a result of the violence, three people were arrested by the police and taken into custody. […]
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Réau penitentiary (Seine-et-Marne): Prison guards’ cars set on fire
du site de FO Justice (the prison guards’ union) / Thursday June 29, 2023
Last night, our institutions were hit by a wave of violence. Indeed, several prisons were attacked by individuals.
A break-in took place on the grounds of the Réau prison. Several vehicles were set on fire in the staff parking lot. […]
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Cops use drones
extract from Le Parisien / Thursday June 29, 2023
[…] In the Nord region, the prefecture stepped up measures on Thursday evening to prevent further violence in Lille and Roubaix, banning all gatherings in one area and deploying RAID units, a helicopter and drones. The elite police unit has already made six arrests in Roubaix, according to Europe 1.
The Paris police prefecture has announced that a new decree “authorizes the capture, recording and transmission of images by means of drones” by police forces in several communes of the Hauts-de-Seine and Seine-Saint-Denis departments for tonight. […]
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In Marseille
actuMarseille/ Thursday June 29, 2023
Following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old killed by police gunfire in Nanterre, tensions erupted in Marseille on Thursday June 29, 2023.
They began in the evening: fires and mortar fire were reported.
Around 7pm on Thursday, a rally was held in front of the prefecture to denounce Nahel’s death.
Several hundred people were present in a calm atmosphere, and a minute’s silence was observed.
But an hour later, the situation became tense. On Rue Montgrand, in the 6th arrondissement, the first rubbish fires were lit. Chaos spread towards Rue Paradis, and mortar fire was heard at Cours Estienne d’Orves.
Demonstrators then headed for the Vieux-Port, where, according to La Provence, police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.