Shot teenager's grandmother urges end to violent protests in riot-hit France

Violent demonstrations in France appear to have diminished slightly with the family of the teen shot by police joining calls for them to end.

More than 45,000 police were deployed to stop violent riots in France triggered by a teen's death. Source: AAP / EPA

Key Points

• The protests have been sparked by the death of teen Nahel, who was shot by a policeman in Paris on Tuesday.
• French police have made hundreds of arrests on a fifth night of unrest.
• Rioters rammed a car into the home of a mayor, injuring his wife and child.

The grandmother of the boy killed by police during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb says she wants the nationwide rioting triggered by his death to end, after a fifth night of unrest.

Identified as Nadia by French media, she said the rioters were using 17-year-old Nahel's death as an excuse to cause havoc and that the family wanted calm.

"Nahel is dead. My daughter is lost ... she doesn't have a life anymore," Ms Nadia told news channel BFM TV.

Two restaurant employees put out a fire set by demonstrators during a spontaneous protest. Source: AAP / Sipa USA

"Don't destroy the schools, don't destroy the buses ... I'm telling them (the rioters) to stop."

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the latest overnight riots had been less intense after 45,000 police were deployed following Saturday's funeral of Nahel in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

Rioters have torched cars, looted stores and targeted state institutions - town halls and police stations - since Nahel's death on Tuesday.

The home of the mayor of L'Hay-les-Roses near Paris was attacked while his wife and children were asleep inside.

President Emmanuel Macron postponed a state visit to Germany that was due to begin on Sunday to handle the worst crisis for his leadership since the so-called 'Yellow Vest' protests gripped much of France in late 2018.

Nahel's death has fed longstanding complaints of police violence and systemic racism - denied by authorities - inside law enforcement agencies from rights groups and within the low-income, racially mixed suburbs that ring major French cities.

French President Emmanuel Macron (centre) chairs a government emergency meeting in Paris, on Sunday, 2 July 2023. Credit: Mohammed Badra/AP

An officer has acknowledged firing a lethal shot, the state prosecutor says, telling investigators he wanted to prevent a police chase that could have caused the injury. The officer involved is under investigation for voluntary homicide.

A donation drive for the officer set up by far-right supporters is said to have raised more than 500,000 euros ($A820,000), DPA reported.

The interior ministry said 719 people had been arrested on Saturday night, compared to 1311 the previous night and 875 on Thursday night.

Paris' police chief said it was too early to say the unrest had been quelled.

A man walks past a burned van in the aftermath of protests in Colombes, outside Paris, on Saturday, 1 July 2023. Source: AAP / Christophe Ena/AP

"There was evidently less damage but we will remain mobilised in the coming days. We are very focused, nobody is claiming victory," Laurent Nunez said.

The biggest overnight flashpoint was Marseille, where police fired teargas and fought street battles with youths around the city centre late into the night. There was also unrest in Paris, in the Mediterranean city of Nice and in Strasbourg in the east.

China, along with some Western nations, has warned its citizens to be vigilant due to the unrest, which could pose a significant challenge for France in the peak summer tourism season if it were to envelop prominent attractions.

China's consulate lodged a formal complaint after a bus carrying a Chinese tour group had its windows smashed in on Thursday, leading to minor injuries, China's Consular Affairs Office said.

Tourist Ted Baughmend, 18, from Chicago, said in Paris: "I understand the protests and why they're happening, but other than that, it's very safe."

In Paris, shop facades on the popular Avenue des Champs-Elysees were boarded up overnight, and there were sporadic clashes elsewhere.

A shop window vandalised with spray paint reading 'Justice for Nahel' after a night of clashes, in the centre of Marseille, France, on 2 July 2023. Source: AAP / EPA

Police said six public buildings were damaged and five officers wounded. In the Paris region, the home of the conservative mayor of L'Hay-les-Roses, Vincent Jeanbrun, was rammed with a vehicle, and his wife and children were attacked with fireworks as they escaped.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne visited the area on Sunday with the Paris region president, Valerie Pecresse, who blamed the violence on small, well-trained groups.

"The Republic will not yield, and we will fight back," she said.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Saturday that 10 malls had been looted in the wave of unrest, and more than 200 supermarkets had also been attacked, along with tobacconists, banks, fashion stores, and fast food outlets.