French prosecutors have opened an investigation into the death of a 27-year old man who was hit by a projectile at the time of the riots on Saturday, the Marseille prosecutor’s office has said.
The man died on Saturday night while Marseille was engulfed in riots and pillaging, but prosecutors said it was not possible to determine where the man was when he was shot or whether the victim had taken part in the riots.
Prosecutors on Tuesday said the likely cause of the death in Marseille was a violent shock to the chest from a “flash-ball” projectile as used by riot police, but did not specify who fired or owned the gun. The impact led to cardiac arrest and sudden death.
Almost a week of rioting across France was sparked by the shooting of a teenager of North African descent during a police traffic stop in a Paris suburb.
The biggest flashpoint on Saturday was in Marseille, where police fired teargas and fought street battles with youths around the city centre late into the night.
Flash-ball guns are designed to be non-lethal riot control weapons that do not penetrate the skin, but their use by police in France is disputed as the projectiles have led to the loss of eyes, head injuries and other trauma.
As the unrest appeared to ease on Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron met more than 300 mayors whose municipalities were affected by the violence to explore the “deeper reasons” for it.
“Is it a permanent return to calm? I will be cautious, but the peak that we’ve seen in previous days has passed,” Macron said during the meeting at the Elysee palace in Paris, according to a participant.
The government has battled riots and looting since an officer killed 17-year-old Nahel M during a traffic stop on 27 June 27 , rekindling long-standing accusations of systemic racism among security forces.
But on Monday night violence in French cities had halved in 24 hours, the interior ministry said, with 72 people arrested nationwide.
At the gathering of mayors, Macron was hoping to “start the painstaking, long-term work needed to understand the deeper reasons that led to these events”, an official at the president’s office said.
But with right- and left-wing officials pointing fingers at one another and each side insistent on their own solutions, the centrist president said at the end of the meeting that they had failed to find “unanimity”.
His government would “reach very real solutions” over the summer, he added, saying “we must strike while the iron is hot”.
But Zartoshte Bakhtiari, mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne east of Paris, said “I came to hear the president give us a vision, set a course. I didn’t come for a group therapy session”.
Nearly 4,000 arrests have been made since Friday, including more than 1,200 minors, according to justice ministry figures.
Macron suggested fining the parents of children involved.
“With the first crime, we need to find a way of sanctioning the families financially and easily,” he said, according to comments reported by the Parisien newspaper.
During the meeting with mayors, Macron also promised to fast-track a new law allowing for rapid assistance with rebuilding damaged buildings, public spaces and vandalised transport infrastructure.
Employers’ organisations called on the government to create an emergency fund “for those who lost everything”.
Police meanwhile said one of the passengers in the car driven by Nahel M, who had turned himself in, had been questioned to determine the exact circumstances of the shooting.
The policeman who fired the lethal shot remained in custody Tuesday, charged with homicide.
An online collection for the family of the 38-year-old officer, launched by far-right figure Jean Messiha, has gathered more 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million), sparking outrage in particular among the political left.
Messiha said on social media he was closing the collection Tuesday at midnight, while the family of Nahel M said it had filed a legal complaint over the fundraising move.
A fund to support the family of Nahel has run to just under 346,000 euros.
