Rioters burn Paris Olympics training pool in third night of protests over fatal police shooting of Nahel M
Flames engulfed the 2024 Paris Olympics aquatic training center Friday as rioters protesting the death of a teenager at the hands of police carried into a third night.
The intense blaze appeared to overwhelm the still-under-construction pool, sending thick black plumes into the sky in Saint-Denis, roughly four miles north of Paris, video shows.
Though it appeared heavy, the fire mainly affected a nearby bus depot — where it gutted 12 buses.
“Buses parked near the Aubervilliers Aquatic Centre construction site were set on fire,” said SOLIDEO, which builds infrastructure for the Olympics. “The facade of the building suffered very slight damage as a result.”
SOLIDEO said it was considering taking extra security measures at all Olympic building sites to prevent any further damage.
Police made 667 arrests across France throughout Friday night as violence continues to surge in response to Tuesday’s police killing of a 17-year-old delivery driver of Algerian and Moroccan descent during a traffic stop.
Video captured the moment two officers stood beside Nahel M.’s car and pointed a weapon at the teenager, with one allegedly telling him that he was “going to get a bullet in the head.”
Nahel, whose last name has not been released, pulled the car away, prompting the officer to pull the trigger, killing the teen.
Nahel’s death sparked national outrage and accusations of deep racism within law enforcement, but lawyers for the officers claim the cops believed their lives were in danger because the teen threatened to run them over.
More than a thousand rioters have been taken into custody since the shooting.
Their average age is 17, authorities said.
The riots have only increased in intensity each day — with 200 police officers reporting injuries Thursday.
French police threatened to revolt against President Emmanuel Macron’s government unless they restored order against the “savage hordes of vermin,” according to The Telegraph.
“Today the police are in combat because we are at war. Tomorrow we will enter resistance and the government should be aware of this,” two of the country’s top police unions said.
Macron has resisted declaring a state of emergency but moved to implement a ban on demonstrations and to shut down public transit at 7 p.m. on Friday.
France’s interior minister also deployed 45,000 police onto the streets ahead of Friday’s riots.
But the precautions did little to quell the chaos.
Protesters looted dozens of stores — including a gun store in the southern city of Marseille — and a man died Friday after crashing through the roof of a shopping mall while appearing to try to break into a supermarket.
Rioters set a tram on fire in the eastern city of Lyon and torched cars in Nanterre, the suburb where Nahel M. was killed.
With Post wires
