Arrests plummeted in France’s sixth night of protests over the police shooting of a young man Sunday night.
France’s Interior Ministry says police arrested 157 people over the course of the night, down from more than 700 the evening before and 1,300 Friday. The relative calm comes after French President Emmanuel Macron ordered 45,000 police to be deployed across the country.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin blasted parents for allowing their children to cause the destruction across the country, saying the average age of those arrested was just 17. Some were as young as 12, he added.
“It’s not up to the national police or the gendarmerie or the mayor or the state to solve the problem of a 12-year-old setting fire to a school. It’s a question of parental authority,” Darmanin said Monday.
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Firefighters extinguish burning vehicles during clashes between protesters and police in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, France, June 28. (Reuters/Stephanie Lecocq)
Despite the lower number of those arrested, some 300 vehicles were damaged, and three additional officers were injured during the night’s violence.
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The wind-down of the riots comes after the funeral for the teen boy who was killed, identified only has Nahel. The boy’s grandmother offered a public statement on Monday, calling for an end to the protests.
Officers walk during a demonstration against police in Marseille, southern France. President Emmanuel Macron deployed 45,000 officers across the country.
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Because of the upheaval, Macron delayed a visit to Germany on Sunday evening. The trip would have been the first time a French president had made a state visit to Germany in 23 years.
On Sunday, a burning vehicle was driven into the home of Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun of the Paris suburb L ’Hay-les-Roses at about 1:30 a.m., injuring his wife and one of his children while they were sleeping.
President Emmanuel Macron faces another test in confronting mass rioting throughout France. (Christian Liewig/Corbis/Getty Images)
At the time of the incident, the mayor was monitoring the violence from town hall.
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Jeanbrun said the attack showed a new stage of “horror and ignominy” in the riots.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Reuters contributed to this report.
