Nearly three quarters of French people think it’s time for President Macron to send in the army to restore order to the towns and cities that have been sacked in recent days. According to a poll published yesterday, 70 per cent of people said they wanted the military to be deployed to areas that have been looted, vandalised and firebombed since police shot dead a 17-year-old in western Paris on Tuesday morning.
The teenager, Nahel, was laid to rest on Saturday afternoon but it remains to be seen whether the furious reaction to his death – for which a policeman has been charged with voluntary manslaughter – will abate in the coming days. There have been appeals for calm from celebrities, sports stars and imams but for many of the rioters their motivation is not justice but greed and the thrill of destruction.
Scenes of teenagers looting in Paris, Marseille and other cities have angered all but the most radical, such as the Green MP Sandrine Rousseau.
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