Nine hundred and ninety-four arrests – a new record – were made across France by law enforcement forces during the fourth night of incidents, after the death of a 17-year-old by a police officer during a traffic control on Tuesday.

At least 45,000 police officers allowed incidents to be contained on this fourth consecutive night of riots. Yet 79 police and gendarmes were injured, about 1,350 vehicles were set on fire, 234 buildings were set on fire or damaged and about 2,560 fires broke out in public places, according to the French Interior Ministry.

Hooded men broke into a gun store and stole shotguns but no ammunition, authorities said, while groups of youths, many wearing hoods, threw objects at the police who responded with tear gas.

Several cities have imposed night curfews. The Interior Ministry has already announced the deployment of additional special police and gendarmerie units. Light armored vehicles of the gendarmerie were also used during yesterday’s night.

For his part, French President, Emmanuel Macron, asked the families to show responsibility, underlining that a third of those arrested the nights from Thursday to Friday were young, sometimes very young.

Macron also accused social media of inciting violence and said he expected them to show a sense of responsibility, referring mainly to Snapchat and TikTok through which violent rallies are organized, causing a kind of mimicry of violence.

The question of imposing a state of emergency is being raised by some of France’s political world, with French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, saying on TF1 news yesterday that nothing is being ruled out.

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A state of emergency, which allows authorities to impose special measures such as curfews, was imposed in November 2005 after ten days of rioting and after two teenagers were electrocuted while trying to hide from police.

The escalation of violence has left French President, Emmanuel Macron, facing his worst crisis since the era of the Yellow Vests protests. The flare-up of violent reactions also led armored vehicles to open fire against demonstrators. The said vehicles were deployed on the streets of France on Friday night (30/6) to quell the violent incidents.

In his statements, Macron announced measures to suppress the demonstrations and, according to the BBC, he condemned the violence that has broken out, adding that the current situation is unacceptable and unjustified.

The measures that were announced are:

• more police officers deployed;
• parents should keep their children at home, with Macron noting that it is not the state’s responsibility but the parents’ to keep children away from riots;
• social media play out important role in tensions, facilitating the organization of protests. In this context, the platforms were asked to: immediately limit videos with reproduction of vandalism, to share the identity of specific users.

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French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Bourne, has announced the deployment of armored police vehicles to deal with the violent incidents that have erupted since the death of 17-year-old Nael by police fire.

Additional mobile forces will also be deployed, the Prime Minister’s office told AFP, adding that large-scale events, which may pose risks to public order depending on the situation in each region, will be cancelled.

These decisions are part of the measures approved during the interministerial crisis response committee that met yesterday at the Ministry of Interior under the leadership of President Macron.

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, complained about the instrumentalization of this dramatic incident. During an interministerial crisis response committee held at the Interior Ministry, Macron expressed his satisfaction with the police’s swift and proportionate response.

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