After a racially motivated attack on the city’s Kurdish community on Friday, December 23, which left three people dead and numerous others injured, protests broke out throughout Paris. On Sunday, demonstrators escalated the rioting that had started shortly after the shooting by flipping cars and setting several on fire. To disperse the crowd, the police turned to using tear gas.
As protests got violent, at least one vehicle was destroyed, store windows were broken, and minor fires were started close to Republic Square, a common location for rallies.
Laurent Nunez, the head of the Paris police stated that, ‘the protest had taken a rapid turn toward violence, albeit the cause was not yet known’.
11 people have reportedly been detained by police over the violent protests that started on Friday. Images from the demonstration scene showed that the demonstrators threw objects at the police, who fired tear gas in return. The protests have resulted in up to 30 police officers and 1 protester being hurt. Before the police dispersed the demonstrators, the unrest persisted for two hours.
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