The French President was seen dancing the night away while rioters were taking to the streets again Thursday for a third successive night following the ‘execution’ killing of a teenager in Paris.
Amid the looting of high-end shopfronts along the Rue de Rivoli in central Paris, anger continued to mount as President Emmanuel Macron was seen partying with Elton John while his country burned.
France’s president was filmed at Paris’s Accor Arena yesterday evening, watching the singer on his farewell tour, as rioters caused mayhem in the capital following the fatal shooting of a French-Algerian 17-year-old identified as Nahel on Tuesday.
Gangs were filmed pillaging shops – targeting Zara and Nike stores as well as the high-end shopfront next to the Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries. Swarms of looters were filmed running into the outlets and smashing windows.
France’s interior ministry said some 249 officers were injured in last night’s violence as Mr Macron called an emergency meeting within his government following the night of barbaric violence and unrest.
Protesters clash with Police, following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop
French President Emmanuel Macron is pictured with his wife Brigitte last night at the Elton John concert at Paris’s Accor Arena
Elton John with Emmanuel (centre left), his wife Brigitte Macron and John’s husband David Furnish backstage at the Accor Arena
As the officer responsible for the death of Nahel, 17, was remanded in custody charged with murder, mobs stormed into the Chatelet shopping complext close to Notre Dame Cathedral.
‘Dozens of youths smashed the windows of sports stores, and then started stealing clothes and shoes’ said a police spokesman.
‘Businesses hit included a Nike store, fashion boutiques and the Samaritaine department store.
‘The attacks spread to other businesses, including a Five Guys fast food restaurant which was vandalised and then set on fire.’
There were similar scenes in cities and towns across France in the early hours of Friday morning, particularly in the southern city of Marseille.
Protesters erected barricades, lit fires and shot fireworks at police as tensions grew. More than 600 people were arrested around the country as the government struggled to restore order.
Armored police vehicles rammed through the charred remains of cars that had been flipped and set ablaze in the northwestern Paris suburb of Nanterre, where a police officer shot the 17-year-old on Tuesday.
On the other side of Paris, protesters lit a fire at the city hall of the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois and set a bus depot ablaze in Aubervilliers. The French capital also saw fires and some stores ransacked.
French firefighters walk past a burning car in Floirac on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France late last night
A man points at a burning car in Floirac on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France
Police stand by as material explodes in the Cite Pablo Picasso area of Nanterre, north-west of Paris in the early hours of this morning
Cars burn in the street at the end of a commemoration march for a Teenage Driver Shot dead by a policeman
People stand in front of a Nike store vandalised during a night of clashes between protesters and police overnight
Burnt buses seen through the gates at the Fort d’Aubervilliers bus terminal in Aubervilliers, north of Paris following riots last night
Protesters were seen clashing with riot officers surrounded by flames
French firefighters put out the flames of a burning car in Floirac on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France late last night
A protester climbs on a building during clashes that broke out after a commemoration march for a teenage driver shot dead by a policeman
Police stand by as material explodes in the Cite Pablo Picasso area of Nanterre early this morning
Firefighters extinguish a car, burnt during night clashes between protesters and police, following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer
In the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, police sought to disperse violent groups in the city center, regional authorities said.
Some 40,000 police officers were deployed to quell the protests. Police detained 667 people, the interior minister said; 307 of those were in the Paris region alone, according to the Paris police headquarters.
Around 200 police officers were injured, according to a national police spokesperson. No information was available about injuries among the rest of the population.
Schools, town halls and police stations were targeted by people setting fires, and police used tear gas, water cannons and dispersion grenades against rioters, the spokesperson said.
Amid the unrest, the Elysee announced Macron would cut short a trip to Brussels, where he was attending a European Union summit, to chair a crisis meeting on the violence – the second such emergency talks in as many days.
It came as Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Friday denounced what he called a night of ‘rare violence.’ His office described the arrests as a sharp increase on previous operations as part of an overall government efforts to be ‘extremely firm’ with rioters.
The government has stopped short of declaring a state of emergency – a measure taken to quell weeks of rioting around France that followed the accidental death of two boys fleeing police in 2005.
As his country burned, the French President was snapped arm in arm with the legendary 76-year-old artist – who he bestowed France’s Legion of Honour award – alongside his wife Brigitte.
But Macron’s photo with Elton ignited outrage overnight, with Thierry Mariani, an MEP with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, raging: ‘While France was on fire, Macron applauded Elton John’, the Telegraph reported.
The violence continued despite the police officer accused of pulling the trigger being handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide.
