Cars burned in Paris as anti-police riots continue

The car burning comes in the wake of a police officer’s alleged assault on a 22-year-old drug dealer, called “Theo”.

Dozens of black and Arab youths converged on an empty lot in Bobigny in the prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis department to riot. Protesters held placards which included claims of “police kills innocents”, although “Theo” has almost recovered from his injuries.

Hundreds had gathered in Bobigny not far from the courthouse earlier today to protest police violence, Le Parisien reported. The protesters turned violent at around 3pm local time.

A media truck from RTL was set on fire by the protesters and could be seen burning in the live footage. “Several vehicles, including a media truck, were set on fire and police officers had to intervene to rescue a young child trapped in a burning vehicle,” a French prefecture statement read, as Reuters reported.

“We decided to organise this gathering. The announcement has been running on Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat… it made some noise, it shows how much people can’t stand this situation anymore,” France Bleu Paris reported the announcement by the organisers.

Protesters pelted police officers with stones and other objects and set fire to cars and rubbish bins.

RT France reported smashed shop windows and showed groceries strewn from shelves as well as fridges tipped over. Le Monde also reported of other cases of vandalism.

Theo was arrested during an ID check in Aulnay-sous-Bois, another Paris suburb, on February 2. A police investigation concluded that he was not raped with a baton by the officer as he maintains.

The unrest follows several nights of rioting in Paris, highlighting once again the tense relationship between the police and immigrant communities in France’s non-white suburbs, where accusations of police discrimination and brutality counter reports of extreme criminality and lawlessness.

But Ouleye Goudiaby, a 32-year-old restaurateur from Villeparisis, Seine-et-Marne, told Le Monde: “We are all revolted.

“These acts of police violence against young people in the working-class neighbourhoods are repeated again and again.

“Theo had the courage to denounce it but many dare not say anything.”