More than 70 people have been detained in Paris suburbs as the riots sparked by the death of a teenager in a police shooting continued into the early hours on Thursday.
Protests broke out in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday, but have since spread to other major cities, including Toulouse, Lille, Lyon, and Nice. Rioters bombarded police with fireworks, set garbage containers on fire, and torched several cars.
Le Figaro reported that “a few dozen” people launched fireworks at a prison in Fresnes, a southern suburb of Paris, and attempted to break into the building before being driven away by police.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Wednesday evening that 2,000 officers and gendarmes were put on alert in the greater Paris area, 800 more than the night before, according to French media. Police also received an emergency authorization to use surveillance drones in Nanterre.
A total of 77 arrests were made, police said in the early hours of Thursday, as quoted by AFP. More than 30 people were previously detained in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, including many in the Hauts-de-Seine department, where Nanterre is based.
The riots erupted after a 17-year-old, later identified as Nahel M., was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop. Police said at the time that Nahel had failed to comply with the officer’s demands. The young man’s mother Mounia posted a video on TikTok calling for “a revolt” to get justice for the death of her son.