Footage has shown the moment a town hall on the outskirts of Paris bursts into flames as France is gripped by civil unrest and riots following the alleged police killing of a teenager.
A video on Twitter shows the town hall of Val Fourre, roughly 30 miles from Nanterre, where the fatal shooting took place on Tuesday (June 27), burning down in the early hours of this morning (June 28) as police and protesters continued to come to blows.
The annex of the building was completely destroyed, according to local reports, as the fire raged on for roughly three hours.
It is believed the fire took hold late on Tuesday night and waged on into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Authorities got control of the fire at 3.15am local time and they reported that no-one was injured in the incident.
For the moment, there has been no link established between the destruction of the town hall and the death of the 17-year-old delivery driver earlier that day.
But Tuesday’s tragedy has drawn national attention and protesters in Paris quickly took to the streets to voice their anger.
Officers wearing riot gear were seen in Nanterre and neighbouring areas as protesters threw firecrackers towards them.
Local residents held a protest outside the police headquarters. Some groups barricades and rubbish bins alight and smashed up a bus stop. Police responded with tear gas and dispersion grenades, according to videos broadcast on local media.
While deadly use of firearms is comparatively rare in France compared to countries such as the United States, several people have died or sustained injuries at the hands of French police in recent years, prompting demands for more accountability.
France also saw protests against racial profiling and other injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota.
A mother living in the Vieux Pont neighbourhood of Nanterre came with her daughter to see her community go up in flames, but she expressed support for those protesting.
“I understand how they feel,” she said. “All the boys who spoke to me, because I know most of the neighbourhood, said to me: ‘This is not possible, we can’t let this happen. It’s too much, it’s too much’.
“I see all the young people who are angry. They all knew him. He was a nice guy. He was driving, yes, he didn’t have a licence, it’s true that you shouldn’t do that… But at the same time, [that does not justify] killing a child.”
Like many others, she saw the video showing one of the two police officers holding the teenager at gunpoint.
“It’s even more distressing, because you can clearly see that they’re saying ‘Get out of the car’ and the other one, standing next to him, is saying ‘If you don’t, I’ll put a bullet in your head’. It’s horrible. Horrible!” she said.
A team of three lawyers for the driver have identified him as 17-year-old Nael M. In a statement, the lawyers rejected a reported statement by the police that officers’ lives were in danger because the driver had threatened to run them over.
In the viral video, it shows two police officers leaning into the driver-side window of a yellow car, before the vehicle pulls away and one officer fires toward the driver. The car is later seen crashed into a post nearby.
The victim was wounded by a gunshot and died at the scene, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. A passenger in the car was briefly detained and released, and police are searching for another passenger who fled.
