02 July 2023 , 06:44
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Ram raiders set fire to a car and drove it into the home of a French mayor in an "attempt to kill his family" on the fifth night of riots across the country.
The French capital has been rocked by violence ever since police gunned down a 17-year-old boy and it since spread to other cities.
Nahel Merzouk was shot by an officer during a traffic stop on Tuesday in the suburb of Nanterre - with the horrific incident caught on video.
The police officer was since arrested and faces an investigation.
His death sparked violent riots and reignited long simmering tensions between Paris’ police force and its youth living in the housing projects, and ethnic minorities in the city - both of which are often poorer.
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Nahel Merzouk, who was gunned down by policeNahel's grandmother, Nadia, today issued a plea to rioters to stop the disorder, telling BFMTV: "We don't want them to destroy shops, busses and schools,
"They are using Nahel as an excuse. We want things to calm down".
A young man who was in the car with Nahel, who was of Algerian and Moroccan descent, claimed an officer threatened them multiple times and even struck him before they shot the teen dead.
There have been five nights of rioting since, culminating in last night, in which the mayor of the southern Paris suburb of L'Haÿ-les-Roses, Vincent Jeanbrun, claimed his family were targeted.
He said his wife and one of his children had been injured fleeing an attacker who rammed his house with a car and then set the car on fire.
Firefighters extinguish fires set in rubbisb bins under riot police's protection on July 1, 2023 in Charenton, Paris (Urman Lionel/ABACA/REX/Shutterstock)Releasing a statement, he said a “milestone was reached in horror”, and branded it an assassination attempt.
He said: "Tonight, a milestone was reached in horror and ignominy.
"At 1:30 in the morning, while I was, as for 3 nights, at City Hall, individuals rammed my home with a car before setting it on fire to set fire to my house, in which my wife and two young children were sleeping.
The suburban mayor said his wife and one of his children were hurt in the attack (@VincentJeanbrun)"Trying to protect them and escape the attackers, my wife and one of my children were injured.
"It was an attempt to assassinate unspeakable cowardice.
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"If my priority today is to take care of my family, my determination to protect and serve the Republic is greater than ever.
Firefighters putting out some of the blazes started during clashes between protestors and riot police (MOHAMMED BADRA/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)"I would like to thank the law enforcement and rescue services for their intervention and more generally for their courage in the difficult times we are going through.
"I don't have words strong enough to describe my emotion in the face of the horror of this night. But the only way to make what is unacceptable bearable is that all this did not happen for nothing."
The extent of the victims' injuries are currently unknown, but members of the mayor's entourage told AFP that the wife sustained a knee injury that was serious enough to warrant hospital treatment. The youngster was slightly injured, the agency added.
Adding further detail as to what happened, France Info writes: "The attackers did not manage to enter the home but followed Vincent Jeanbrun's wife and children to their garden, behind the house, learned franceinfo from the mayor's entourage.
Officers patrolling through Nanterre, where 17-year-old Nahel was shot (AP)"Under mortar fire, his wife pushed her two ten-year-old children over the wall that separates their garden from that of their neighbour.
"She managed to get her children to safety, but one of them, as well as herself, were injured going through the wall. She is suffering, according to the mayor's entourage, from a probable fracture."
Footage released on Sunday showed him being consoled by local residents in L'Haÿ-les-Roses.
In an emotional moment, one woman told him: "I'm with you with all my heart. I send my regards to your wife."
The young boy who had been with Nahel in the car when he was shot spoke out to set the story straight because "there are a lot of lies on social media".
The passenger has insisted that neither boy was "under the influence", but they'd borrowed the vehicle - which had Polish plates - and that they were simply driving around the suburb of Nanterre when cops on motorbikes pulled them over.
The riots have spread from Paris across the country - here firefighters extinguish a bus burned during clashes between protesters and riot police in Nanterre (MOHAMMED BADRA/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)One of the cops approached Nahel's window, before telling him: "Cut the engine or I'll shoot you."
The officer then smashed the teen in the face with his weapon, before another cop followed suit, he revealed in a video shared on social media.
The first cop then pressed the barrel against his head, telling him: "Don't move or I'll put a bullet in your head".
The second officer then said "shoot him", before the first hit him again with the butt of the gun.
When this happened, Nahel released the break and the second officer shot him, the passenger said.
A controversial fundraiser to support the police officer by a right-wing former politician has raised more than £600,000.
Two restaurant employees put out a fire set by demonstrators during the fourth day of protests (Telmo Pinto/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)French President Emmanuel Macron called off his scheduled visit to Germany as a result of the unrest.
It was due to be the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, and was scheduled to last from tonight until Tuesday.
More recent nights saw violence spike, as in some areas police were fired upon as looting took place.
Videos shared on social media showed that vigilante mobs have popped up in some areas to protect local businesses.
One mob of bat-wielding brutes in the French city of Angers - who were reportedly nationalist football ultras - was seen on video pummelling looters and rioters in a gruesome attack.
There has been looting in a number of cities amidst the protests (Frederic MUNSCH/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock)An officer in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, described how ‘gunfire started’ as a police patrol entered a council estate where tower blocks had been set alight in the early hours of this morning.
"We were forced to flee - it was a matter of life and death," he said.
"Three officers suffered minor wounds, but it could have been far worse.
Marseille, southern France, is another city that has seen protests and violence (AFP via Getty Images)"We were forced to shoot back with a tear gas grenade launcher, at the risk of tearing a rioter’s head off,’ added the policeman, who asked not to be identified by name.
Nahel’s funeral took place yesterday.
After days of chaos there was near silence at the cemetery but some journalists were chased away.
Near the cemetery, a Parisian who identifies as Arab and gave only his partial name, Sid Ali, for fear of retaliation by police or authorities, said he is not sure Nahel’s killing and the violent unrest will change anything.
“Paris has burned a bit, no?” he said. “Let’s see if the police will change their ways as the days pass.”