In the midst of continuous unrest in France, the mayor of a Paris neighborhood said his home was attacked early Sunday morning (02 July) and that the incident was “an assassination attempt” on his family.
“At 1:30 a.m., while I was at the city hall like the previous three nights, people rammed their car into my house before setting fire to it, burning my house, inside which my wife and two young children slept,” said Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun of L’Hay-les-Roses, a commune in Paris’ southern suburbs.
France has been rocked by a series of violent occurrences, including riots, protests, and looting. Including, a report of rioters reportedly setting fire to a residential building in Grigny on Saturday (01 July), as France Riots enter their fifth day.
To suppress the rioting, the country deployed 45,000 police and gendarmes across France on Saturday night (01 July).
The unrest stems from the death of Nahel (17), who was shot during a traffic stop. Protests occurred in France following the murder of Nahel Merzouk, 17, who was shot by a police officer in Nanterre earlier this week.
The killing of Nahel Merzouk has triggered a discussion about policing in France’s marginalized communities, as well as whether race played a factor in his death.
