‘We are at war’: French police vow to hit back as rioters steal bus and smash fast car into a Lidl

French police have declared they are ‘at war’ with ‘savage hordes of vermin’ amid widespread rioting and looting that saw a bus stolen and a car smashed into a supermarket front.

Two police unions threatened a revolt unless Emmanuel Macron’s government restored order amid protests sparked by the killing of a French-Algerian teenager by police on Tuesday – also causing the French president to cancel his trip to Germany.

‘Today the police are in combat because we are at war,’ a report from the unions said. ‘Tomorrow we will enter resistance and the government should be aware of this.’

It comes as marauding gangs of rioters clashed with police again last night leading to 1,300 arrests. Footage showed the extreme chaos on French streets as rioters were seen speeding in a bus and smashing a car into the front of a Lidl supermarket.

The friends and family of Nahel today attended the funeral of the 17-year-old shot at point-blank range by an officer at a traffic stop earlier this week. 

People walk next to a car burned during clashes between protesters and riot police in Nanterre, near Paris, France

People gather in Marseille to protest against the death of 17-year-old Nahel, who was shot in the chest by police in Nanterre on June 27

Looters have ransacked dozens of shops and torched 2,000 vehicles since the start of the riots, which have spread to cities such as Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Lille.

More than 200 police officers have been injured, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said, adding that the average age of those arrested was 17.

17-year-old Nahel (pictured) was shot dead by French police during a traffic stop, Tuesday

Friday night’s arrests included 80 people in Marseille, home to many people of North African descent.

Social media images showed an explosion rocking the old port area of the southern city, but no casualties were reported.

A gunman yesterday also opened up on police and a weapons shop was looted.

An officer in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, described how ‘gunfire started’ as a patrol entered a council estate where tower blocks had been set alight in the early hours of Saturday.

‘We were forced to flee – it was a matter of life and death,’ he said. ‘Three officers suffered minor wounds, but it could have been far worse.

‘We were forced to shoot back with a tear gas grenade launcher, at the risk of tearing a rioter’s head off,’ said the policeman, who asked not to be identified by name.

Officers suffered wounds to the legs and groin, prompting a local police spokesman to say: ‘We have crossed a red line. We’ve not seen this kind of thing before here, and it’s of deep concern.’

Firefighters extinguish fires set on trash cans under riot police’s protection following looting and violent demonstrations over night

A man gestures next to a burning container in Paris as protests grip France yet again

Firefighters extinguish a bus burned during clashes between protesters and riot police in Nanterre

People gather to protest against the death of 17-year-old Nahel, who was shot in the chest by police in Nanterre on Tuesday, in Marseille 

A tear gas is thrown as people protest against the death of 17-year-old Nahel, who was shot in the chest by police

‘A mob ransacked the shop and got away with around eight hunting rifles,’ said a police spokesman in Marseille.

The city’s Mayor Benoit Payan called on the government to send extra troops to tackle ‘pillaging and violence’ in Marseille, where three police officers were slightly wounded on Saturday.

In Lyon, France’s third-largest city, police deployed armoured personnel carriers and a helicopter, while in Paris, they cleared protesters from the Place de la Concorde. Lyon Mayor Gregory Doucet has also called for reinforcements.

The unrest has revived memories of nationwide riots in 2005 that forced then President Jacques Chirac to declare a state of emergency, after the death of two young men electrocuted in a power substation as they hid from police.

‘Quite simply, we’re not ruling out any hypothesis and we’ll see after tonight what the President of the Republic chooses,’ Darmanin said on Friday when asked whether the government could declare a state of emergency.

Security measures taken by shops and boutiques on the Champs-Elysees following the fourth night of unrest triggered by the fatal police shooting of a teenager in Paris

Shops were getting ready for a potential fifth night of unrest as they put grilles in front of shop windows

The Tag Heuer shop on the Champs Elysees put barriers up outside the windows today

Another shop built a wooden structure outside their storefront to protect the windows

Shops like Dubail used discreet grilles to secure their Champs Elysee shops

Other shops completely shut their doors as they secured entrances

Large glass doors leading into the Zara shop were covered up, as were the windows

Players from the national soccer team issued a rare statement calling for calm. ‘Violence must stop to leave way for mourning, dialogue and reconstruction,’ they said on star Kylian Mbappe’s Instagram account.

Events including two concerts at the Stade de France on the outskirts of Paris were cancelled, while Tour de France organisers said they were ready to adapt to any situation when the cycle race enters the country on Monday from Spain.

Nahel, a 17-year-old of Algerian and Moroccan descent, was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where buses were halted and the area quiet on a damp Saturday morning after more overnight rioting.

The Islamic funeral ceremony included mourners viewing his open coffin before it was taken to a mosque and then on to a cemetery for burial.

Abdelmadjid Benamara, the family lawyer, said: ‘Saturday, July 1 is a day of meditation for Nahel’s family.’

Several hundred people lined up to enter Nanterre’s grand mosque, which was guarded by volunteers in yellow vests, while a few dozen bystanders watched from across the street.

A police officer has been handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide and placed in provisional detention following killing of Nahel on Tuesday 

Some of the mourners, their arms crossed, said ‘God is Greatest’ in Arabic, as they spanned the boulevard in prayer.

Salsabil, a young woman of Arab descent, told Reuters that she had come to express support for Nahel’s family.

‘I think it’s important we all stand together,’ she said.

Marie, 60, said she had lived in Nanterre for 50 years and there had always been problems with the police.

‘This absolutely needs to stop. The government is completely disconnected from our reality,’ she said.

The shooting of the teenager, caught on video, has reignited longstanding complaints by poor and racially mixed urban communities of police violence and racism. Macron had denied there is systemic racism in French law enforcement agencies.

‘If you have the wrong skin colour, the police are much more dangerous to you,’ said a young man, who declined to be named, adding that he was a friend of Nahel’s.

The officer responsible for the shooting – identified as Florian M., 38 – remains on remand having been charged with murder.

Among those calling for calm on Saturday was France and Paris St Germain football star Kylian Mbappé, who said ‘the violence must end’.

The killing has sparked four consecutive nights of nationwide anarchy, and the UK Foreign Office has warned British tourists about the dangers of travelling in France.

People wait next to the entrance of Mont Valerien cemetery, where Nahel Merzouk will be laid to rest, in Nanterre

Clashes between police and protestors continue after the death of 17-year-old Nahel

Firefighters extinguish a bus burned during clashes between protesters and riot police in Nanterre, near Paris

The remains of a burnt out car following a night of looting and rioting in Montreuil

A person inspects a damaged shop window following a night of looting and rioting in Montreuil, near Paris

It came as a leaked police intelligence report described officers as being ‘at war with savage hordes of vermin’.

Two police unions threatened a revolt unless Emmanuel Macron’s government restored order.

‘Today the police are in combat because we are at war,’ says the report.’ Tomorrow we will enter resistance and the government should be aware of.’

The French government announced this weekend that all major public gatherings that could ‘pose a risk to public order’, including rock concerts and sports events, would be banned.

An extra 45,000 police have been deployed across the country, including multiple armed paramilitary units.

Nahel lived with his mother, Mounia, on a council estate in Nanterre.

Her lawyers have accused the policeman responsible for the death of her son of ‘cold blooded murder’.

Nehel was from a French Algerian background, and protestors say the teenager’s death exemplifies the discrimination that such ethnic minorities suffer.

Macron chaired the French equivalent of a Cobra meeting – the second in two days – on Friday, as he attempted to deal with the national crisis.

Afterwards, he said he was prepared to do ‘anything possible to restore public order’.

It came as a passenger who was in the car with Nehel earlier this week claimed the teenager was threatened by officers before he was killed.

A young man in the car with Nahel posted a video on social media saying an officer told the 17-year-old: ‘I’ll put a bullet in your head,’ moments before he was shot dead.

Emergency workers put out the flames on a vehicle set on fire during violent protests over night

A group of police officers walk as people protest following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer

Nahel’s death, caught on video, has reignited longstanding complaints by poor and racially mixed communities of police violence and racism. Macron had denied there is systemic racism inside French law enforcement agencies.

The passenger who was with Nahel in the car at the time of the shooting shared a video of his comments and said he has come forward to share his story because he wanted to ‘establish the truth’.

The young man released footage on social media saying ‘there are a lot of lies on social media’ and that he would tell ‘the story from A to Z’.

The passenger – who was in the car that had Polish number plates – said they borrowed the vehicle and went for a drive around Nanterre but ‘weren’t under the influence of any alcohol or drugs’.

He said they were in a bus lane when they noticed police on motorbikes following behind, eventually stopping them. He said one officer came to the window and told Nahel: ‘Cut the engine or I’ll shoot you.’ He claimed the officer struck Nahel with the butt of his gun, before a second arrived and did the same.

The passenger also claimed the first officer put his gun to Nahel’s head and told him: ‘Don’t move or I’ll put a bullet in your head.’

He claims the second officer said: ‘Shoot him’, before the first then struck him with the butt of his gun again. This forced Nahel to release the break.

The second officer, the passenger claims, then fired, alerting Nahel to put his foot on the accelerator. At 17, Nahel was too young to have a driving licence.

‘I saw him in pain, he trembled,’ the young man said. ‘We hit a barrier.

‘I was afraid. I got out of the vehicle. And I ran away. I thought they might shoot me. So I ran.’ 

‘I’m shocked at what happened in front of me to my friend,’ he concluded.

Mounia, mother of the French teenager killed by police, waves to the crowds during a memorial march for her son Nahel on Thursday

Firefighters extinguish a bus burned during clashes between protesters and riot police in Nanterre, near Paris

Smoke rises after violent protests swept France again last night as emergency services scrambled to act amid the clashes

Emergency personnel survey the scene of a burnt out building – which housed a pharmacy – in Montargis s this morning, which was set alight overnight during continuing protests

Raid policemen arrest a man during clashes with police on the Lyon streets as violence continues to erupt in France

Last night, firefighters were seen desperately hosing down a burnt bus as unrest continued in France

This week’s rioting is the worst France has seen in years and puts new pressure on Macron, who appealed to parents to keep children off the streets and blamed social media for fuelling violence.

Last night saw continued riots were looters were seen rampaging through the streets of Marseille, Lille and Paris, amid claims some broke into a gun shop and stole hunting rifles while others ransacked a police station. Cars, buses and government buildings have been set alight and fireworks have been launched at police.

There were more than 3,800 fires on public roads last night, while more than 500 buildings were set alight.

Hundreds of police and firefighters have been injured, including 79 overnight, but authorities haven’t released injury tallies for protesters.

Nanterre Mayor Patrick Jarry said that France needs to ‘push for changes’ in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Despite repeated government appeals for calm and stiffer policing, Friday saw brazen daylight violence, too. An Apple store was looted in the eastern city of Strasbourg, where police fired tear gas, and the windows of a fast-food outlet were smashed in a Paris-area shopping mall, where officers repelled people trying to break into a shuttered store, authorities said.

In the face of the escalating crisis that hundreds of arrests and massive police deployments have failed to quell, Macron held off on declaring a state of emergency, an option that was used in similar circumstances in 2005.

Instead, his government ratcheted up its law enforcement response, with the mass deployment of police officers, including some who were called back from vacation.

Darmanin ordered a nationwide nighttime shutdown Friday of all public buses and trams, which have been among rioters’ targets. He also said he warned social networks not to allow themselves to be used as channels for calls to violence.

‘They were very cooperative,’ Darmanin said, adding that French authorities were providing the platforms with information in hopes of cooperation identifying people inciting violence.

‘We will pursue every person who uses these social networks to commit violent acts,’ he said.

Two restaurant employees seen putting out a fire set by demonstrators during the protests on Friday

Firefighters were called to several sites to put out fires as France was lit up in the wake of more protests

There were more than 3,800 fires on public roads last night, while more than 500 buildings were set alight

A protester walks by a burning car during clashes with police in Le Port, French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, on June 30

A firefighter puts out the flames on a torched car amid another night of protests in Paris, France

Firefighters put out the flames on a vehicle set on fire during violent protests last night

Macron, too, zeroed in on social media platforms that have relayed dramatic images of vandalism and cars and buildings being torched. Singling out Snapchat and TikTok, he said they were being used to organize unrest and served as conduits for copycat violence.

The police officer accused of killing Nahel was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide. Preliminary charges mean investigating magistrates strongly suspect wrongdoing, but need to investigate more before sending a case to trial. Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said that his initial investigation led him to conclude that the officer’s use of his weapon wasn’t legally justified.

Nahel’s mother, Mounia, told France 5 television that she was angry at the officer, but not at the police in general. ‘He saw a little Arab-looking kid, he wanted to take his life,’ she said.

‘A police officer cannot take his gun and fire at our children, take our children’s lives,’ she said. The family has roots in Algeria.

Race was a taboo topic for decades in France, which is officially committed to a doctrine of colorblind universalism. In the wake of Nahel’s killing, French anti-racism activists renewed complaints about police behavior.

Thirteen people who didn’t comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year. This year, another three people, including Nahel, died under similar circumstances. The deaths have prompted demands for more accountability in France, which also saw racial justice protests after George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota.

This week’s protests echoed the three weeks of rioting in 2005 that followed the deaths of 15-year-old Bouna Traoré and 17-year-old Zyed Benna, who were electrocuted while hiding from police in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois.

Police officers wait in front of a looted shop as they patrol in Lyon streets during violent protests on Friday night

Officers inspect a looted shop after violent riots swept France again last night

A person passes by a looted shop in a Lyon street during violent protests over night

Eric Ciotti, the head of the Republicans party said his country ‘is on the edge of a precipice’ and that ‘we must wage a merciless war against violence and proclaim a state of emergency in all affected areas’, the Telegraph reported, as he launched a political broadside against Macron.

Domestic intelligence seen by French newspaper Le Monde has also warned the president that riots could become increasingly ‘widespread’ and continue for the ‘coming nights’.

French police have said that they are currently ‘at war’ with ‘savage hordes of vermin’, The Telegraph reported after violence continued throughout the evening. 

Two of the country’s biggest police unions have threatened a revolt unless Mr Macron restores order.

They said: ‘Today the police are in combat as we are at war. Tomorrow we will be in resistance and the government should be aware of this.’

The comments come off the back of claims by the unions, Alliance Police, Nationale and UNSA Police suggested that the response so far from Mr Macron’s government had been far too weak.

They wrote: ‘Faced with these savage hordes, calling for calm is no longer sufficient, it must be imposed!’ 

It comes as British tourists were warned about travelling in France as the country imposed curfews and traffic shutdowns to try and quell nationwide rioting.

The Foreign Office on Friday updated its travel advice as a response to the violence, saying: ‘Some local authorities may impose curfews. Locations and timing of riots are unpredictable.

‘You should monitor the media, avoid areas where riots are taking place, check the latest advice with operators when travelling and follow the advice of the authorities.’

Widespread looting has also taken place in Marseille, with France Bleu Provence reporting that four hunting rifles were stolen from an armory during the riots in Marseille. 

Firefighters extinguish a bus burned during clashes between protesters and riot police in Nanterre

France deployed 45,000 officers backed by light armoured vehicles to tackle a fourth straight night of violent protests on Friday night

A firefighters walks by a vehicle set on fire during violent protests in Tours, France

A woman is searched by riot police as people protest near Opera Garnier in Paris

Protesters set a container on fire amid the unrest in France following the death of a  teenager

A group of police officers walk during a protest in Nanterre, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 1

At least 1,311 people are thought to have been arrested by law enforcement officers since last night

A riot policeman walks past two burnt out vehicle as rioters set France on fire yet again 

Tensions between youths and police have reached boiling point, with the French journalists reporting that the elite tactical unit, RAID, has been deployed in areas of the country to try and halt the violence.

French riot police officers patrol during a demonstration in Caen, north-western France. French President Emmanuel Macron has announced measures including more police and urged parents to keep minors off the streets as he battled to contain nightly riots.

One store manager described having seen ’30 determined kids’ and assures that his stock ‘is no longer secure’, however, police have said that no ammunition was taken.

One individual was arrested with a rifle likely coming from the store, police said. The store was now being guarded by police. 

Authorities earlier banned demonstrations in the city set for Friday, and encouraged restaurants to close outdoor areas early. They said public transport would stop at 7 pm

‘The next hours will be decisive and I know I can count on your flawless efforts,’ Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote to firefighters and police officers, seeking to quell the unrest that has been breaking out after nightfall.

He asked local authorities to halt bus and tram traffic from 9pm across France and later said 45,000 officers from the police forces would be deployed on Friday evening, 5,000 more than on Thursday.

Armed police officers stand guard during riots following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police

Protesters run from launched tear gas canisters during clashes with police in Lyon, south-eastern France

Protesters clash with CRS riot police at the Porte d’Aix in Marseille, southern France yesterday

French anti-riot police officers stand guard after a group of protesters lit fires in Bordeaux

British tourists were today warned about travelling in France as the country imposed curfews and traffic shutdowns to try and quell nationwide rioting

Rioters rampaged through the streets of France for a fourth night. The map above shows where the main incidents took place

Asked on TF1’s main evening television news programme on Friday whether the government could declare a state of emergency, Darmanin said: ‘Quite simply, we’re not ruling out any hypothesis and we’ll see after tonight what the President of the Republic chooses.’

Macron reportedly left a European Union summit in Brussels early to chair a second cabinet crisis meeting – the French equivalent of a Cobra meeting – in two days. 

He has asked social media to remove ‘the most sensitive’ footage of rioting and to disclose identities of users fomenting violence.

The French president told parents to keep their children at home after it emerged young people accounted for a third of the arrests made.

He said: ‘It is the parents’ responsibility to keep them at home and therefore it’s important for everyone’s peace of mind that parental responsibility is fully exercised. It’s not the republic’s job to replace fathers and mothers.’ 

Darmanin met representatives from Meta, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok. 

Snapchat said it had zero tolerance for content that promoted violence. A friend of the victim’s family, Mohamed Jakoubi, who watched Nahel grow up, said the rage was fuelled by a sense of injustice after incidents of police violence against minority ethnic communities, many from former French colonies.

‘We are fed up, we are French too. We are against violence, we are not scum,’ he said.

Mr Macron said social media was fuelling copycat violence, and that platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok needed to remove ‘the most sensitive content’.

He said: ‘We sometimes have the feeling that some young people are living in the streets of the video games that have intoxicated them.’

The President also urged parents to keep teenagers at home, rather than let them out looking for trouble.

French riot police stand guard during clashes in Lyon

A protester moves a metal barrier during a demonstration in Caen

Tensions have spilled into other cities after tensions reached boiling point today

Firefighters put out a burning car during protests in Lille

‘It is the parents’ responsibility to keep them at home,’ said Mr Macron. ‘And therefore, it is important for everyone’s peace of mind that parental responsibility can be fully exercised.’

Fresh pleas from French footballing icon Kylian Mbappe have also called on protesters to stop the chaos, saying that there are ‘other peaceful and constructive ways to express yourself’.   

The PSG forward issued a statement which read: ”Violence solves nothing, even less when it inevitably and tirelessly turns against those who express it, their families, loved ones and neighbours. 

‘It is your property that you are destroying, your neighborhoods, your cities, your places of fulfillment and proximity. In this context of extreme tension, we cannot remain silent and our civic conscience encourages us to call for appeasement, awareness and accountability.’

In Nanterre on the outskirts of the Paris protesters torched cars and buses, barricaded streets and hurled projectiles at police following an earlier peaceful vigil.

The interior ministry said 79 police posts were attacked overnight, as well as 119 public buildings including 34 town halls and 28 schools.