He mentioned his spouse and one in all his kids had been injured whereas attempting to flee. He was working within the city corridor when the assault occurred, he added.
“Tonight, a milestone was reached in horror and ignominy,” Jeanbrun tweeted Sunday, calling the assault “an assassination try of unbelievable cowardice.”
Politicians extensively condemned the assault, and Gérald Darmanin, France’s inside minister, mentioned an tried homicide investigation was opened.
Authorities in Beijing additionally mentioned Sunday {that a} bus carrying Chinese language vacationers was attacked final week. The home windows of the bus had been smashed, and several other individuals had been evenly injured, the Overseas Ministry mentioned.
China’s Consulate in Marseille “instantly lodged complaints with the French facet, demanding that they guarantee the private and property security of the Chinese language residents,” the ministry mentioned.
He Shuai, head of consular companies in Marseille, instructed China’s Southern Metropolis Every day that the assault towards the 41-person group occurred on Thursday night.
Police within the Bouches-du-Rhône division, the place Marseille is positioned, confirmed in a telephone name Sunday {that a} bus containing a Chinese language tour group was attacked throughout the riots within the metropolis however mentioned they may not verify whether or not anybody was injured due to the quantity of incidents that occurred in current days.
Police mentioned the bus was attacked as a result of it was close to a development website the place rioters had gone to seek out extra projectiles. The bus was “within the flawed place on the flawed time” and was not focused particularly due to the passengers’ race, police mentioned.
France has been shaken by protests, lots of which turned violent, over the demise of Nahel M., a 17-year-old of North African descent who was shot by a police officer throughout a visitors cease in a suburb of Paris final week. The incident has infected anti-police and anti-state sentiment in France, significantly within the suburbs of main cities, or “banlieues” — the place minority communities usually grapple with discrimination and excessive unemployment.
Tens of hundreds of cops have been mobilized to cope with vandalism, looting and destruction of public property in cities throughout France. Police have fired tear gasoline into crowds of protesters.
Saturday night time was “calmer” than earlier nights because of the “resolute motion” of legislation enforcement, Darmanin mentioned early Sunday on Twitter. Nonetheless, the Inside Ministry mentioned that 719 individuals had been arrested in a single day throughout the nation and that 45 cops had been injured.
Stéphane Hardouin, the prosecutor for the Val-de-Marne division, which L’Hay-les-Roses is a part of, mentioned that “a burning automobile entered the enclosure of the mayor’s pavilion” early Sunday and was stopped, apparently by a low wall. The automobile broken the entrance gate and the household’s automotive, he mentioned.
He mentioned preliminary info steered that “the automobile was launched to burn” the mayor’s house. An accelerant was present in a Coca-Cola bottle throughout the investigation, he mentioned.
“Listening to a noise and seeing flames, the mayor’s spouse and her two kids fled via the again backyard,” the prosecutor mentioned. The mayor’s spouse injured her tibia whereas fleeing, he mentioned. The youngsters are 5 and seven, he added.
Fifty-six individuals had been arrested in a single day in Marseille, a metropolis with a big inhabitants of residents of North African descent that has been on the coronary heart of French President Emmanuel Macron’s plans for city renewal exterior of the capital. A number of shops had been looted and trash cans set on hearth as police in riot gear unfold all through the town, France 24 reported.
It was there, on Thursday, that the Chinese language tour group was caught up within the riots, and its bus attacked for 5 to 6 minutes, in keeping with He, of the Chinese language consulate.
A girl who was on the bus instructed the state-run Hangzhou Transportation 918 radio station that police didn’t come to the group’s rescue throughout the assault. The lady, recognized solely by her surname, Ma, mentioned the group was on its technique to a lodge in Marseille round 10:30 p.m. when over a dozen masked individuals wearing black began hurling bricks on the bus. Among the attackers tried to board the bus earlier than being rebuffed by passengers, Ma mentioned, in keeping with the radio station.
A number of tour members had been injured by damaged shards of glass, and others sustained minor accidents when attempting to cease the attackers from getting on the bus, she continued. The group was evacuated to Geneva, a few 4½-hour drive from Marseille, arriving there Saturday, she mentioned.
In Paris, the Inside Ministry deployed additional safety across the Champs-Elysées, a significant purchasing avenue that results in the Arc de Triomphe monument, after calls to focus on the realm had been issued on social media. Practically 400 officers patrolled the sector Saturday night time and into Sunday, dispersing teams of younger individuals and shutting down the avenue round 12:30 a.m., in keeping with Le Monde. Police mentioned they arrested 37 individuals who carried weapons and posted photographs of seized materials, together with what seemed to be brass knuckles.
#ChampsElysées | 3⃣7⃣5⃣ contrôles en amont ont été effectués par les #FDO aux abords du secteur et sur les Champs-Élysées.
➡️ 3⃣7⃣ interpellations, pour port d’arme, port d’arme par vacation spot. pic.twitter.com/vHzWqjUtIS— Préfecture de Police (@prefpolice) July 1, 2023
The widespread protests started Tuesday night time, after Nahel was killed by a police officer in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. Prosecutors mentioned Nahel was driving dangerously and refused to cease the automotive for an inspection when requested by two visitors cops on bikes. The officers pulled alongside the automotive and pointed their weapons at Nahel, and one officer fired a bullet that penetrated the teenager’s arm and chest.
The officer who fired the shot was detained and is being investigated on an intentional murder cost.
Rick Noack contributed to this report.