France is set to deploy 40,000 officers on Thursday evening amid fears of a third night of rioting in the capital triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old boy.
Bus and tram services are also set to shut down early so they are not “targets for thugs and vandals”, a Paris region official has said.
Meanwhile, a town in the capital’s southwest suburbs announced an overnight curfew to last through the weekend.
Clamart, a town with a population of 54,000, said the curfew would be in place between 9pm to 6am from Thursday night through to Monday.
Buildings and vehicles were set on fire as thousands took to the streets after a video emerged of a teenager, identified only by his first name Nahel, who was shot during a traffic stop on Tuesday in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre.
The footage has shocked France and stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods.
The police officer who fired the fatal shot will be investigated for voluntary homicide after an initial investigation concluded that “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met”.
Why are people protesting in France – and why is there a history of rioting?
France riots: Police killing of 17-year-old boy in Nanterre is catalyst for wanton destruction
France riots: 40,000 officers deployed across country after fatal police shooting of teenager in Paris
Sky News’s Europe correspondent Adam Parsons is on the ground in Nanterre and said: “The first thing that hits you is the lack of uniformed police.
“Whenever we cover a protest in France, you don’t have to go far before you see a police officer in uniform.
“But the message is very clear today. The police are considered the enemy.”
Nahel’s mother received condolences from those gathered to protest against his death.
“It certainly feels quite tense, and many youngsters are threatening to return to the streets tonight, and continue the violence that we have seen across France since the death of Nahel,” Sky’s correspondent said.
Why are people protesting in France – and why is there a history of rioting?
“The march finished at a large square near the Prefecture building in Nanterre, a location loaded with symbolism.
“For one, it’s a legislative hub – and was, inevitably, well protected by the police.
“For another, it was very near to the point where Nahel was shot by a policeman on Tuesday morning. His car careered to a collision on one corner of the square.
“Up to this point, the march had been tense and noisy but there had been no violence.
“At the square, confronted by teams of riot police, that all changed. Tear gas and stun grenades came from one side; rocks, flares and fireworks from the other.
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“Perhaps it was inevitable. It certainly didn’t feel like a surprise that a march clouded with suspicion about the police should end with clouds of tear gas and confrontation. Now we wait to see what happens tonight.”
Ministers appealed for calm as they gathered for a crisis meeting this morning.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said: “The professionals of disorder must go home.
“The state’s response will be extremely firm,” he added.
The minister also confirmed that the number of officers on duty tonight would more than quadruple – from 9,000 to 40,000 – with the number of officers deployed in the Paris region alone more than doubled to 5,000.
Demonstrations spread to other towns on Wednesday night despite an increased police presence.
Protesters shot fireworks and threw stones at police in Nanterre, who returned with repeated volleys of tear gas.
Schools, police stations, town halls and other public buildings were damaged from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north as police and firefighters struggled to contain the riots and extinguish several fires.
But a spokesperson for the national police said most of the damage was in the Paris suburbs.
Mr Darmanin said 170 officers had been injured in the unrest but their injuries were not life-threatening.
The local prosecutor in Nanterre, Pascal Prache, said officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish license plates in a bus lane.
He ran a red light to avoid being stopped but got stuck in a traffic jam.
Both officers involved said they drew their guns to prevent him from fleeing.
According to Mr Prache, the officer who fired a single shot said he feared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car.
A lawyer for Nahel’s family told the Associated Press they want the police officer prosecuted for murder instead of manslaughter.
French President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting on Thursday about the violence.
“These acts are totally unjustifiable,” Mr Macron said at the beginning of the meeting, which aimed at securing hot spots and planning for the coming days “so full peace can return”.
French activists renewed calls to tackle what they see as systemic police abuse, particularly in neighborhoods where many residents struggle with poverty and racial or class discrimination.
