What is behind the unrest in France?
Violent riots rocked French cities for a second night in a row on Wednesday, with protesters torching cars, burning buildings and smashing and setting off fireworks outside police stations.
About 180 people were arrested and 170 officers were injured, the French interior minister said. The unrest was in response to the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old by a police officer in Nanterre, a suburb west of Paris, on Tuesday.
Here’s what you need to know about the violence:
What caused the protests?
On Tuesday morning, a police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old boy, identified only as Nahel M., while the teen was driving. The Nanterre prosecutor said Nahel was driving on a bus lane and, when officers tried to stop him, ran a red light to get away.
He was killed by a single shot that went through his left arm and chest, the prosecution said. Inside the vehicle were two people, a Mercedes-AMG, next to the driver, the prosecutor’s office said: one was released after questioning; the other was still wanted after fleeing the scene.
Initial reports in the French news media, citing what were described as anonymous police sources, said the teen had hit officers. But one video of the shooting which emerged shortly afterwards seemed to contradict that story, showing that the officer who shot Nahel was in no immediate danger as the car sped away.
The diverging accounts contributed to the violent unrest, which has affected more than a dozen cities.
What is the status of the police officer?
The interior minister said the officer who shot Nahel M. would be suspended. French prosecutors on Thursday urged that the officer, who has not been identified, be investigated for “voluntary manslaughter” and – in a rare move in such cases – that he be detained.
The officer was due to appear before investigating judges on Thursday, who could file charges.
Pascal Prache, the chief prosecutor in Nanterre, said the officer did not meet “legal conditions for using the weapon”.
Are more protests planned?
Protests were likely to continue on Thursday, but the prime minister rejected calls to declare a state of emergency in some areas. Ahead of further unrest, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said 40,000 agents will be deployed across France on Thursday night, more than four times the number on Wednesday night.
Large crowds gathered at a wake march organized by the teenager’s family in Nanterre on Thursday afternoon. Atop the cab of a flatbed truck, his mother, dressed in a white T-shirt that read “Justice for Nahel,” led the crowd in chants.
Why has the murder caused so much anger?
The unrest immediately brought back memories of 2005, when the deaths of two teenagers on the run from police sparked weeks of violent protests, with hundreds of youths from Paris’ poorer suburbs setting cars and buildings on fire.
In the following years, several police beatings and deaths in custody sparked protests and led to widespread allegations of police brutality.
Catherine Porter contributed reporting from Nanterre, France.