Despite violent protests French gov will not impose state of emergency
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The French capital's police chief says that the government is not considering imposing a state of emergency despite the uncontainable mass protests that have rocked the city for the past five nights.
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An emergency worker looks on as vehicles are set ablaze by protestors angered by the murder of 17-year-old Nahel M. by 2 French Police officers in Nanterre, west of Paris, France, June 28, 2023. (AFP)
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez stated on Sunday that the French government is not currently considering implementing a state of emergency in the country, despite ongoing violent protests which have led to thousands of arrests since Tuesday night.
"That's not an option at the moment. The option that the government has chosen, and I think it's already been demonstrated that it's obviously the right option, is that the means that we legally have ... at the moment are enough to stop this," Nunez told the BFMTV broadcaster.
Furthermore, he announced that the operation of buses and trams in the Paris region would be suspended again on Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, in the department of Indre-et-Loire, protesters attempted to set fire to the car of Filipe Ferreira-Pousos, the mayor of La Riche commune.
However, law enforcement prevented any damage to the vehicle. The administration of the department shared this information on Twitter, and the mayor expressed his intention to file a complaint regarding the incident.
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The French President was forced to delay a state visit to Germany on Saturday, citing the ongoing situation in the country which authorities have largely failed to contain.
The French Interior Minister confirmed in a Twitter post on Sunday that 719 people are detained overnight and 45 police officers have been injured amid protests taking over the country.
The mayor of the L'Hay-les-Roses commune in southern Paris, Vincent Jeanbrun, stated that his house was attacked by unidentified assailants who tried to ram a car into the house and set the building on fire, leaving his family injured.
"This night, … my house was attacked and my family was a victim of the assassination attempt," Jeanbrun tweeted.
The cold-blooded murder of Nahel M. by French police officers in Nanterre has exposed deep division within French societies. The event sparked ablaze a fire that holds within it decades worth of resentment felt by minorities in France towards authorities.
The protests have also angered the right in France who have been critical of Macron's government for its inability to deal with the situation, leading to clashes between white French citizens and protestors in Paris.
