Violence and looting resumed Friday in France, especially in Strasbourg (East), where an Apple Store was looted, and in Marseille (South) where a demonstration degenerated in the evening.
“Everybody Hates the Police”: Suddenly, dozens and dozens of young people gather, chant and advance on the street leading to the Old Port, approaching law enforcement vans parked in an adjacent street.
Quickly, some throw projectiles at the vans. The police responded with tear gas. A police helicopter flies over the city.
PHOTO CHRISTOPHE SIMON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Police officers arrest a protester in Marseille.
The French government committed “exceptional” means on Friday to try to stem the cycle of violence, looting and destruction that has shaken many cities in the country since the death on Tuesday of a young man from the Paris suburbs, killed by a police officer while he was trying to escape a traffic check.
At least three towns near Paris and several provincial towns have decided to introduce curfews. The government has also decided to cancel “large-scale” events, in particular the concerts of singer Mylène Farmer at the Stade de France near Paris on Friday and Saturday.
President Emmanuel Macron, who cut short his stay in Brussels on Friday morning, called for families to be responsible as the youth of the perpetrators of the violence struck a chord.