Why Is France Burning? Violent Protests Spread Beyond Paris; Details Inside

The riots across France have reached unprecedented levels of vandalism, arson, and violence, plunging President Emmanuel Macron into the gravest crisis of his leadership since the Yellow Vest protests that started in 2018.

As chaos gripped France, videos showing people setting vehicles on fire, climbing onto buildings with smashed windows, arson on the streets, and rioters looting stores in several French cities such as Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Lille as well as Paris have surfaced all over social media.

France has rushed 45,000 police officers backed by light armoured vehicles as violent protests continued unabated for the fourth consecutive day.

Crack police units and other security forces reached various parts of the country to quell violence and rioting over the shooting, which took place during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb on Tuesday.

The France police has arrested over 1,100 people nationwide during a fourth consecutive night of rioting. The average age of the rioters who were held was 17 and teenagers who are as young as 13 years of age were also detained.

So, what led to the violent protests in France?

It all began when a police officer fatally shot a 17-year-old, named Nahel on Tuesday in the Nanterre suburb.

According to a Reuters report, the French Police spotted Nehal driving a Mercedes in a bus lane at 7:55 am on the outskirts of Paris. When they tried to stop him, Nehal disobeyed and committed many traffic offenses endangering the lives of pedestrians.

The police officers tried to stop him by asking him to turn off the ignition but when he again attempted to escape, an office fired at close range through the driver's window.

The death was captured on camera, has raised questions about whether France has failed to move on since it was wracked by weeks of urban rioting in 2005.

Nahel's killing has put a spotlight on the alleged Police discrimination against minoritized communities in France.

Since then, protests have spread to cities like Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, and Lille as well as Paris where Nahel was fatally shot.

Shootings on the rise

Many also blame France police for killing people who refused to comply with an order is on the increase.

In 2022, thirteen people have lost their life in police shootings for not complying with orders during traffic stops, according to police. This year, three people, including Nahel who failed to stop when ordered to have died in similar circumstances.

In 2021, according to police figures, four people had been killed in such circumstances.

Blame the law?

Following the death of Nahel, the president of France's lower house of parliament, Yael Braun-Pivet is urging lawmakers to reassess how a law governing gun use by police is being implemented.

It was adopted in 2017, in the wake of a series of extremist attacks in France.

Since then, law enforcement officers can shoot at a vehicle when a driver fails to comply with an order, and when it is likely to endanger their lives or those of others.

In the case of Nahel, the officer who fired the fatal shot will be investigated for voluntary homicide after an initial investigation concluded that "the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met."

In addition to the lethal shootings, French police are under scanner for regularly criticized for their violent tactics.

In 2018, a top European official slammed French authorities for their handling of the anti-government protests that rocked the country for months, urging them to show more respect for human rights.

Previous riots

The unrest in French suburbs that started following Nahel's death is not new.

Back in 2005, the electrocutions of Zyed Benna, 17, and Bouna Traore, 15, after they hid from police in a power substation in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois sparked three weeks of rioting throughout France, according to news agency AP.