French police authority have arrested over 150 people in a second night of widespread protest following the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old driver by police on Tuesday during a traffic stop near Paris.
Nahel M was shot at point-blank range as he drove off and crashed afterward.
Following the teen’s murder, authorities launched two different investigations; one into a potential official killing, and another into the driver’s failure to halt his car and the claimed attempt to kill a police officer.
Town halls, schools, and police stations have been vandalized, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin,
Thousands of additional security personnel were brought in when violence broke out in Paris, Toulouse, and Lille.
In a post on social media, Darmanin condemned the escalating unrest, saying France had witnessed “a night of unbearable violence”.
Also, the French President Emmanuel Macron said the shooting of Nahel was “unforgivable”.
“Nothing justifies the death of a young person, I call for calm, for justice to be done”.
“I would like to express the feelings of the entire nation at what has happened and the death of young Nahel, and to tell his family of our solidarity and the nation’s affection.”
“We have a teenager who has been killed. It’s inexplicable, unforgivable,” he said, adding that the case was immediately referred to the courts where he hoped justice would “do its job quickly”.
But his comments drew an angry reaction from police unions, who accused him of rushing to judge the officers involved.
The Alliance Police union called for them to be presumed innocent until found guilty, while the rival Unité SGP Police also spoke of political interventions that encouraged “anti-cop hatred”.