France unrest: Mayors urge ‘mobilization’ against nationwide protests
Mayors in France have called for a mobilization to help quell angry protests sweeping the country over the fatal shooting of a teenager of African origin by police last week.
France has been rocked by a wave of protests since last week after Nahel M, a 17-year-old boy of Algerian origin, was killed by French police during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
On the sixth consecutive day of the protests, the national association of the country's mayors urged citizens to gather at their local town halls on Monday to show support for “for a return to republican order.”
In a statement, the association said "everywhere in France are the scene of serious unrest, which targets republican symbols with extreme violence."
Local elected officials gathered for a rally at the Paris City Hall on Monday to denounce the violent disturbances, in particular an attack on the private home of Vincent Jeanbrun, the mayor of a Paris suburb, on Saturday night.
Paris Mayor Ann Hidalgo gave brief remarks condemning the violence in the gathering.
The latest unrest has generated a major crisis for President Emmanuel Macron, who had been hoping to press on with pledges for his second term after seeing off months of demonstrations that erupted in January over raising the retirement age.
The president will meet on Tuesday with the mayors of more than 220 towns hit by the unrest, according to the Elysse Palace.
Meeting key ministers late Sunday, the president gave an order for "longer-term work to understand in depth the reasons that led to these events," a presidential official said.
To quell the unrest, the interior ministry said it deployed 45,000 police and security forces overnight Sunday to Monday across the country. Police said they arrested 157 people nationwide Sunday night. They arrested more than 1,300 people in a single night late last week,
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