A deadly police shooting has led to protests across France. What we know so far

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Protests have erupted in cities across France after a 17-year-old teenager was shot and killed by a police officer on Tuesday morning in Nanterre, a working-class suburb west of Paris.

The protests turned violent Wednesday night as demonstrators torched cars, barricaded streets and shot fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas. The French government has deployed tens of thousands of police officers as President Emmanuel Macron attempted to quell the violence. Mr. Macron called the shooting “inexcusable.”

While Mr. Macron held off on declaring a state of emergency, his interior minister ordered all public bus and tram services to halt after 9 p.m. and banned the sale of fireworks. Authorities in several cities also canceled large-scale events that were planned over the next few days, including concerts at the Stade de France, north of Paris.

The government has said all options would be considered to stop the unrest.

Mr. Macron urged parents Friday to keep teenagers at home and blamed social media for fuelling rioting. Social networks are playing a “considerable role” in the violence, the French leader said. Singling out Snapchat and TikTok by name, he said the platforms were being used to organize unrest and serving as conduits for copycat violence.

The police shooting of the teenager was captured on video and has stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Why did the protests start?

On Tuesday morning, a 17-year-old teen of Algerian and Moroccan descent, who has only been identified as Nahel M., was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Nanterre.

The local prosecutor said that Nahel failed to stop after he was spotted driving in a bus lane. After he got stuck in traffic, two police officers approached the car. Videos of the incident shared online show the two police officers leaning into the driver-side window. As the car drove away, one of the officers shot through the driver’s window at close range.

Nahel died from a single shot through his left arm and chest, the prosecutor said. The officer who shot the teen has been put under formal investigation for voluntary homicide and is being held in prison in preventive detention.

The officer acknowledged firing a lethal shot, the prosecutor said, telling investigators he wanted to prevent a car chase, fearing he or another person would be hurt after the teenager allegedly committed several traffic violations.

How has the public responded?

In response to the shooting, thousands marched in Nanterre’s streets in memory of Nahel on Thursday, including the teenager’s mother, who waved to the crowd wearing a white T-shirt reading “Justice for Nahel” and the date of his death.

But protests have turned violent, with local news reporting rioting, looting and clashes in police. On Sunday, a burning car struck the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses, and several police stations and town halls have been targeted by fires or vandalism. Hundreds have been arrested.

The shooting unleashed long-standing tensions about police violence and systemic racism within law-enforcement agencies, and renewed calls to reform the police services, which gained momentum during the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

The shooting also revived memories of the 2005 riots in France that occurred in the aftermath of the death of two young people. They had died after getting electrocuted in a power substation as they hid from police. Those protests lasted for three weeks and forced then-president Jacques Chirac to declare a state of emergency.

How has the government responded?

Mr. Macron told reporters on Thursday that “nothing justifies the death of a young person,” and described the incident as “inexplicable and inexcusable.”

In an attempt to contain the violent protests, the government has deployed tens of thousands of police officers. Although the violence appeared to be lessening on Monday, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said 45,000 police officers would again be deployed. More than 3,000 people have been detained overall following the mass security deployment. Hundreds of police and firefighters have been injured in the violence. Authorities have not said how many protesters have been hurt.

Mr. Macron held a special security meeting Sunday night and plans to meet Monday with the heads of both houses of parliament and Tuesday with the mayors of 220 towns and cities affected by the protests. Macron also wants to start a detailed, longer-term assessment of the reasons that led to the unrest, an official in the meeting who spoke anonymously with the Associated Press.

Local authorities in Clamart, which is located eight kilometres from central Paris, imposed a nighttime curfew until Monday. Busses and tram services in the greater Paris region have been halted after 9 p.m. local time.

With reports from Reuters and Associated Press