Riots erupted for another night across France over a police-involved shooting of a 17-year-old last week, leading to 1,300 arrests, as top police unions issued a warning that the country is “at war.” In another incident, the mayor of a Parisian suburb alleged that rioters tried to assassinate him and his family members.
Top French police unions, Alliance Police Nationale and UNSA Police, over the weekend said that officers are “at war with vermin” and threatened revolt over how the country is handling the riots. “Today the police are in combat because we are at war. Tomorrow we will enter resistance and the government should be aware of this,” the unions in a statement to The Telegraph.
“Now is not the time for industrial action but for fighting against these ‘vermin,'” the union statement also said, responding to French President Emmanuel Macron’s reluctance to declare a state of emergency.
“Restoring the republican order and putting the apprehended beyond the capacity to harm should be the only political signals to give. In the face of such exactions, the police family must stand together. Our colleagues, like the majority of citizens, can no longer bear the tyranny of these violent minorities,” the union’s statement also said, according to a translation.
At the same time, Vincent Jeanbrun, mayor of the southern Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses, alleged that rioters tried to assassinate him and his family, including two young children. Jeanbrun said he was at home when it was set on fire while his wife and kids were there sleeping, describing the incident as an “assassination attempt.”
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