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France rioters ram car into mayor's house in Paris suburb, injuring wife and child
Rioters in France rammed a car into the home of the mayor of a town south of Paris, injuring his wife and one of his children, the mayor.
Rioters in France rammed a car into the home of the mayor of a town south of Paris, injuring his wife and one of his children, mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said on Sunday. The mayor L'Hay-les-Roses town tweeted that protesters "rammed a car" into his home before “setting a fire” while his family slept.
"Last night a milestone was reached in horror and disgrace," the mayor tweeted.
The incident took place on the fifth night of chaos across France, where rioters have set cars on fire, attacked infrastructure, and clashed with security forces after police shot dead a 17-year-old boy, Nahel M, trying to flee a traffic stop.
"My wife and one of my children were injured," said Jeanbrun. "It was an attempted murder of unspeakable cowardice."
Police made 719 arrests nationwide by early Sunday after a mass security deployment aimed at quelling France's worst social upheaval in years.
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The fast-spreading crisis is posing a new challenge to President Emmanuel Macron's leadership and exposing deep-seated discontent in low-income neighbourhoods over discrimination and lack of opportunity.
The 17-year-old whose death on Tuesday spawned the anger, identified by his first name Nahel, was laid to rest Saturday in a Muslim ceremony in his hometown of Nanterre, a Paris suburb where emotion over his loss remains raw.
As night fell over Paris, a small crowd gathered on the Champs-Elysees for a protest over Nahel's death and police violence but met hundreds of officers with batons and shields guarding the iconic avenue and its Cartier and Dior boutiques. In a less-chic neighbourhood of northern Paris, protesters set off volleys of firecrackers and lit barricades on fire as police shot back with tear gas and stun grenades.
Several schools, police stations, town halls and stores have been targeted by fires or vandalism in recent days but such a personal attack on a mayor's home is unusual.
Skirmishes erupted in the Mediterranean city of Marseille but appeared less intense than the night before, according to the Interior Ministry. A beefed-up police contingent arrested 55 people there.
(With inputs from agencies)
