France rioters smash flaming car into mayor’s home as Macron deploys special forces & 719 arrested on 5th night of chaos
LAWLESS riots continued into a fifth night in France last night after the police killing of a teenager – with ram-raiders smashing a flaming car into a mayor’s home.
President Emmanuel Macron was forced to deploy special forces commandos as 719 people were arrested after the funeral for 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was shot and killed earlier this week.
The iconic Champs-Elysees saw crowds clash with baton-wielding riot cops who smashed protesters back with their shields.
And in northern Paris, rioters set off volleys of firecrackers and lit barricades ablaze as police shot back with tear gas and stun grenades.
But in a shockingly “targeted” attack, a burning car was driven into the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of L’Haÿ-les-Roses overnight.
Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said: “Last night a milestone was reached in horror and disgrace.
“My wife and one of my children were injured. It was an attempted murder of unspeakable cowardice.”
VIOLENCE CONTINUES
The Interior Ministry insisted the violence overnight on Saturday into Sunday was less intense than the previous evening.
Yet photos from the city still revealed harsh police crackdown as authorities pinned rioters to the ground.
The worst trouble overnight on Saturday to Sunday was in Marseille, where police fired tear gas and fought street battles with youths around the city centre late into the night.
Town halls and other public buildings have erected huge barricades with barbed wire after attacks increased in violence in recent days.
The largest library in the city of Metz was filmed burning late last night, sparking further outrage.
FRANCE ‘AT WAR’
Some 2,800 people have been detained overall since Nahel’s death on Tuesday.
Around 45,000 police were deployed across the country for a second night – while special forces commandos were also drafted in.
It came as a leaked police intelligence report described officers as being “at war with savage hordes of vermin”.
Two police unions threatened a revolt unless Emmanuel Macron’s government restored order.
“Today the police are in combat because we are at war,’ says the report.‘Tomorrow we will enter resistance and the government should be aware of.”
BRITS ‘STAY AWAY’
The unprecedented street strife forced the UK Foreign Office to warn British tourists for the first time about the dangers of travelling in France.
They updated their travel advice on Friday urging travellers to monitor reports and avoid trouble spots.
The advice read: “Since 27 June, riots have taken place across France. Many have turned violent. Shops, public buildings and parked cars have been targeted.
“You should monitor the media, avoid areas where riots are taking place, check the latest advice with operators when travelling and follow the advice of the authorities.”
Hundreds of thousands of Brits are likely to be in France at the moment, given how many millions visit the country each year – 13 million in 2018 from the UK alone.
MACRON CRISIS
Unpopular Macron – faced with the worst crisis in France since the 2018 Yellow Vest protests – postponed a state visit to Germany that was due to begin today to deal with the growing crisis.
France‘s justice minister, Dupond-Moretti, warned that young people who share calls for violence on Snapchat or other apps could face legal prosecution.
“The results of the night can be summed up in one word: apocalyptic,” Rudy Manna, of the Bouches-du-Rhône police union, said of Friday night.
“We had scenes of guerrillas in the centre of Marseille, the northern districts were also affected by looting, burning of vehicles and trash cans.”
VICTIM’S FUNERAL
French-Algerian delivery driver Nahel was laid to rest yesterday in an Islamic ceremony in his hometown of Nanterre, a Parisian suburb.
Hundreds stood along the road to the hilltop cemetery to pay tribute to the teenager as mourners carried his white casket from a mosque to the burial site.
Video of his brutal killing showed two officers at the window of the car, one with his gun pointed at the driver as he threatened to “put a bullet in his head” before opening fire.
Nahel’s grieving mum Mounia said: “What am I going to do now? I devoted everything to him.
“I’ve only got one, I haven’t got 10 children. He was my life, my best friend.”
His grandmother echoed her grief, adding: “I will never forgive them.
“My grandson died, they killed my grandson. We are not happy at all, I am against the government.”
Thirteen people who didn’t comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year, and another three this year.