More than 600 people were arrested in France on Thursday night as riots spread across the country. The violence erupted after a 17-year-old boy, named as Nahel M., was shot dead by police earlier this week during a traffic stop in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris.
Despite the deployment of some 40,000 police officers, authorities struggled to control the clashes in major cities and smaller urban areas alike. Public buildings and transportation systems were the main targets, but some districts saw shops looted, too.
A man walks by burning tyres blocking a street in Bordeaux | Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images
People walk by burning tyres blocking a street in Bordeaux | Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images
Men throw tyres in a fire blocking a street in Bordeaux | Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images
Burning vehicles lie in a street of the Cite Pablo Picasso area of Nanterre | Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP via Getty Images
A police officer of unit RAID (Research, Assistance, Intervention, deterrence) stands guard during protests in Lille | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
CRS riot police face protesters, with the “Grande Arche de la Defense” seen in the background in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre | Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP via Getty Images
A police officer of unit RAID holds a position in an anti-riot vehicle in Lille | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
A firefighter looks on as vehicles burn following riots in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre | Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP via Getty Images
An office of French bank Credit Mutuel burning following riots in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre | Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP via Getty Images
Fireworks explode as policemen stand by during protests in Roubaix | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
A pedestrian walks past placards reading “justice for Nahel and for all the others killed by police” in Marseille | Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images
An RATP Transport worker walks past a burnt tram destroyed during protests in Clamart, southwest of Paris | Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images
Burnt buses at the Fort d’Aubervilliers bus terminal in Aubervilliers, north of Paris |Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images
A damaged National police station sign in the Chatelet neighbourhood in Rouen | Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images
The graffitis read: “27.06.2023 start of the war / a good cop is a dead cop / justice for Nahel” | Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP via Getty Images
Police officers stand inside the burnt Hotel du ville in Garges-les-Gonesse | Stefano Rellandini/AFP via Getty Images
Fireworks explode during protests in Nanterre, west of Paris | Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP via Getty Images
A police officer of unit RAID helps an injured man during protests in Lille | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
A police officer of unit RAID helps a passer by to cross the street during protests in Lille | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne speaks with a resident in front of the burnt facade of the Hotel du ville in Garges-les-Gonesse, north of Paris, following riots two days after a 17-year-old boy was shot in the chest by police | Stefano Rellandini/AFP via Getty Images
French riot police charge during clashes after a memorial march for French teenager Nahel | Abdulmonam Eassa/ Getty Images
A French riot police officer pushes back a non identified man during clashes in Nanterre | Abdulmonam Eassa/ Getty Images
