Protestors pelted riot police with fireworks and other missiles from behind flaming barricades as the Paris suburb of Argenteuil erupted in a second night of violence, following the death of 18-year-old Sabri Choubi.
Choubi died in a motorbike accident on the northern outskirts of Paris on Saturday evening, which several witnesses claim involved a police car. In the two nights since then, irate locals have vented their fury at Choubi’s death by bombarding police with stones, fireworks and other projectiles.
Police responded with volleys of tear gas as armed riot officers dispersed crowds at several public housing estates on Monday night.
Police responded with volleys of tear gas as armed riot officers dispersed crowds at several public housing estates on Monday night.
At least six people were arrested and three police officers injured in the violence, which saw three cars set alight and some 20 dumpsters burned to the ground. There were also reported attempts to set a local police station on fire using Molotov cocktails.
Choubi’s family made a formal complaint against the police, thereby launching an official investigation into the circumstances of the young man’s death.
While many blame the police for the events which led to Choubi’s death, some media reports claim he was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, suggesting instead that he may have lost control of his bike and slammed into a pole.
Police said the teenager’s death was being used as a pretext for people to vent their frustrations after the two-month coronavirus lockdown and tensions had merely boiled over.
Meanwhile, prosecutors working on the case claimed the young man had not been chased by a police vehicle that had been operating in the same neighborhood on Saturday evening, adding that a forensic expert had corroborated the fact there was no evidence of a collision with another vehicle on Choubi’s motorbike.
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