France riots – live: Children as young as 12 detained for attacking police amid Paris protests

The aunt of a French teenager shot dead by police last week has urged the “violence to stop” and her nephew’s death to trigger “real change” peacefully, in a heartfelt interview with The Independent.

Hatifa, who turned 47 on Saturday, the day of her nephew’s funeral, described Nahel Merzouk, 17, as a “loving teddy bear” who had big ambitions, liked to write rap lyrics, and was “dedicated” to his mother.

She said the family – who are of Algerian and Moroccan origin – had been overwhelmed by the national and global response to his killing last week by a police officer during a traffic stop in a west Parisian suburb.

A car packed with explosives struck the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses over the weekend, an unusually personal attack that authorities said would be prosecuted as an attempted homicide.

The attack prompted an outpouring of support for local governments in many towns where the city hall is often literally central to public life.

L’Hay-les-Roses Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said his wife and one of his children were injured and criticized the government for doing too little, too late — and said blaming social media or parents was papering over a bigger problem.

“The base ingredients are still there. For several years now, all summer long, explosives go off that keep people from sleeping, that make them crazy,” he told BFM television on Monday. “We are powerless summer after summer.”

In all, according to the Interior Ministry, there were 157 arrests overnight out of a total of 3,354 since last Tuesday, and two law enforcement stations were attacked, among other damage.

The interior minister said children as young as 12 or 13 had been detained for attacking law enforcement and setting fires.

In the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where a fire also struck the town hall, residents over the weekend said anger had simmered for years and many said the government had done little to help them.

“Young people are afraid to die by the hands of police. They are hopeless. They are bored and they need something to distract them so they don’t hang out in the streets,” said Samba Seck, 39.

Crowds gathered at town halls across France Monday to show solidarity with local governments targeted in six nights of violence touched off by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old in suburban Paris.

The unrest, which appeared to be easing on Sunday night, was driven by a mainly teenage backlash in the suburbs and urban housing projects against a French state that many young people with immigrant roots say routinely discriminates against them. In all, 99 town halls have been attacked in the violence, the Interior Ministry said, including a weekend attempt to ram the home of one mayor with an explosives-laden car.

There has been little in the way of organized protests beyond a march last week for Nahel, the 17-year-old of Algerian descent who was killed on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Instead, the anger has manifested in young people targeting police, with both sides using increasingly aggressive tactics.

The average age of the 3,354 people arrested over the past week was 17, the interior minister said. But the problem of discrimination strikes all ages, according to Ahmed Djamai, a 58-year-old born in Nanterre who attended Monday’s solidarity gathering at the town hall.

Djamai said police stopped him not long ago and demanded a residence permit, even though he neither has nor needs one as a French citizen. He said the problem won’t go away even as the violence subsides.

“Our second, third and fourth-generation children face the same problem when they go out to get a job, when they go to prestigious universities,” he said. “They’re not accepted. So even now, the problem is social, but it’s also one of identity. It goes much deeper than that.”

Fundraising for the family of the police officer who shot 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk has amassed more than €1 million (£840,000).

Organised by Jean Messiha, a former adviser to the French far-right politician Marine Le Pen, the appeal has raised far more than the donation page set up for the family of the teenage victim.

The page says that the 38-year-old officer, who has been charged with murder and is being remanded in custody, “is today paying the biggest price” for “doing his job”.

The donation page set up for the family of Nahel has raised less than a quarter of the amount at just over €200,000 (£171,918).

Criminal lawyer Carole-Olivia Monteno told BFM TV: “It’s insulting to Nahel’s family, it only increases hate where there’s too much of it already, its completely inappropriate and politically it does nothing.”

Holidaymakers have been advised by a travel expert not to cancel their trips to France following five nights of unrest but to stay “flexible” and avoid big cities at night-time.

Rioting has spread across the country following the fatal shooting by police of 17-year-old boy Nahel in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday.

The UK Government updated its guidance for travellers to France to warn of “potential disruption” but it does not advise against travel to the country.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay encouraged people considering travelling to France to check the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for updated advice.

Crowds gathered at town halls across France Monday to show solidarity with local governments targeted in six nights of unrest touched off by the police shooting of a 17-year-old.

The riots, which seemed to be easing overnight into Monday, were driven by a teenage backlash in the suburbs and urban housing projects against a French state that many young people with immigrant roots say routinely discriminates against them. In all, 99 town halls have been attacked in the violence, along with other public buildings, according to the Interior Ministry.

French President Emmanuel Macron was meeting Monday with mayors of 220 towns from across the country. Across France, 34 buildings were attacked overnight — many of them linked to the government — along with 297 vehicles.

There has been little in the way of organized protests beyond a march last week for Nahel, the teenager of Algerian descent who was killed on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Instead, the anger has manifested with young people targeting police and both sides using increasingly aggressive tactics.

The anger has descended into attacks against symbols of the state, widespread arson and nighttime looting. About 45,000 officers were deployed nationwide against violence that the mayor of Nanterre, Patrick Jarry, said hurt young people above all.

“We want justice for Nahel and that the calls for an end of the violence expressed by his grandmother and mother be respected,” said Jarry, speaking in front of his city hall, which escaped attack.

France has endured a sixth night of violence following an emotional weekend when mourners gathered for the funeral of a teenager whose killing by police sparked nationwide unrest.

Nahel Merzouk was laid to rest in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where the 17-year-old had been shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop on Tuesday, triggering days of fierce clashes.

More than 700 people were arrested following the funeral on Saturday as police fired tear gas and fought street battles with protestors late into the night in flashpoint Marseilles.

Footage shows the traffic stop in which a French police officer fatally shot a 17-year-old delivery driver in a Paris suburb on Tuesday, 27 June.

Video shows two policemen by the window of a yellow car and the sound of a gunshot before the vehicle drives off.

Further footage shows the car crashed by a Nanterre building.

Protests have erupted in the two days following the shooting, with fireworks thrown at police and cars set on fire while officers fired tear gas.

The officer has been detained on suspicion of manslaughter, the prosecutor’s office in Nanterre said

Videos circulating on social media appearing to show zoo animals roaming the streets of Paris during protests have been confirmed as old and unrelated.

Newschecker investigated two videos on social media which claimed that protestors had released animals from a zoo in Paris.

However, both videos were traced back to 2020.

France has seen six consecutive nights of violence and unrest after police shot a 17-year-old boy during a traffic check in Paris.

Thousands have been arrested since clashes first erupted on Tuesday night in and around the Paris suburb of Nanterre where Nahel Merzouk was killed.

“I lost a child of 17-year-old, they took my baby,” the mother said in a TikTok video.