Hundreds of people marched on Monday in support of a French mayor whose home was attacked by a burning car, as the country entered a second week gripped by violent protests and riots.
A large crowd in L’Haÿ-les-Roses, a Paris suburb, showed solidarity with Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun, whose home was hit by the vehicle on Sunday morning.
The meeting came after a calmer night in the country ravaged by furious protests since a policeman shot and killed a 17-year-old boy at a traffic stop last Tuesday (27).
Jeanbrun’s address was well known in the community before the attack, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported. The incident injured his wife and one of his children, Jeanbrun said earlier, calling it an attempted murder.
Residents and authorities raised a banner at the march with the words “Together for the republic!” Jeanbrun, dressed in the French tricolor sash, told the fans: “I only have one word: thank you.
“Democracy has been attacked,” he said. “More than ever, our republic and its servants are threatened and attacked,” he added.
In a previous statement, on Sunday, the mayor said that while he was at city hall, “individuals crashed their car on top of my residence before setting it on fire to burn my house, inside which my wife and two small children were sleeping.”
“While trying to protect the children and escape the attackers, my wife and one of my children were injured,” he said, adding that he “did not have words strong enough to describe his emotion at the horror of this night.”
France’s interior ministry said 157 people were detained overnight on Monday, up from more than 700 the night before.
Three police officers were injured, a police station was attacked and 352 public roads were set on fire, but BFMTV reported that “no serious incidents were reported” overnight.
French President Emmanuel Macron will launch a procedure to “deeply understand” the cause of the unrest that rocked France last week, he told the CNN a source present at the meeting between Macron and his top officials on Sunday.
Macron told the ministers present to continue to “do everything to establish order”, the source said.
The wave of protests began after a police officer shot and killed Nahel Merzouk, 17, during a traffic stop. The officer charged with the shooting has been charged with voluntary manslaughter.
Merzouk’s grandmother appealed to the protesters on Sunday, telling BFMTV: “They shouldn’t damage the schools, not break the buses, it was the mothers who took the buses.
“I’m tired,” said the grandmother, identified by BMFTV as Nadia, adding that Nahel’s mother “has no life left.”
The teenager’s funeral took place on Saturday at a mosque in Nanterre, the Paris suburb where he was killed.
Source: CNN Brasil
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