France riots: Burning car used in ram-raid attack on mayor’s home in ‘assassination attempt’

A burning car has been used to attack the home of a mayor during a fifth night of rioting by protesters sparked by the police killing of a teenager in France.

Vincent Jeanbrun, who runs the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses, claimed the incident was an “assassination attempt” and authorities said they were treating it as attempted murder.

Mr Jeanbrun, who was not at home at the time, said his property was “ram-raided” and set alight while his wife and two children, aged five and seven, were asleep.

His wife broke her leg and one of the youngsters was injured as they fled the building through the back garden. Mr Jeanbrun told France’s prime minister that his wife had had surgery and faced a three-month rehabilitation.

The mayor, who had been at the town hall, claimed the perpetrators started a fire “to torch my house”.

Prosecutors said the vehicle was stopped apparently by a low wall before reaching the veranda of the house, adding that a flame accelerant was found in a bottle in the car.

The town hall was targeted over several nights since the shooting of a 17-year-old boy and has been protected with barbed wire and barricades. But such a personal attack on a mayor’s home is unusual.

In a statement, Mr Jeanbrun wrote: “A milestone was reached in horror and ignominy. My home was attacked and my family was the victim of an assassination attempt. My determination to protect and serve the Republic is greater than ever. I will not back down.”

French prime minister Elisabeth Borne has “condemned” the attack and gave her full support to the mayor and his family.

A spokesperson for the PM said “the culprits will be prosecuted with the greatest firmness” and the government is “at the side of all the mayors”, adding: “These attacks and violence against elected officials are unacceptable.”

No suspects have been arrested over the incident.

President Emmanuel Macron will have a meeting later with Ms Borne, interior minister Gerald Darmanin and justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti to discuss the protests.

Meanwhile, officers in Marseille fired tear gas at protesters as the escalating crisis in France continued.

Sky News footage showed crowds dispersing in the moments after the substance was deployed by officers.

Police in Paris cleared protesters from the Place de la Concorde and increased security at the city’s landmark Champs Elysees avenue after a call on social media to gather there.

Officers later said they arrested 37 people in the French capital after officers confiscated weapons in the area.

Some 2,400 people have been arrested after five nights of violent protests throughout the country following the death of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was shot by police during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday.

People have taken to the streets over consecutive nights to protest, setting cars alight, throwing stones and fireworks, and ransacking shops.

A funeral for the teenager was held in Nanterre on Saturday afternoon, with family and friends viewing an open coffin before it was taken to a mosque for a ceremony and later burial.

Nahel’s killing ignited long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects who struggle with poverty, unemployment and racial discrimination.

It has resulted in the worst riots France has seen in years and put pressure on Mr Macron, who has blamed social media for fuelling the violence.

Street clashes continue to rage

Early on Saturday firefighters in Nanterre, on the outskirts of Paris, extinguished blazes set by protesters that left the scorched remains of cars strewn across the streets, while in the neighbouring suburb of Colombes protesters overturned bins to use them as makeshift barricades.

On Friday evening looters broke into a gun shop and stole weapons in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, police said.

Despite Mr Macron’s appeal to parents to keep their children at home, street clashes between young protesters and police raged on, with authorities saying around 2,500 fires have been set and stores were ransacked.

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As the number of arrests increased the government suggested the violence was beginning to subside due to tougher security measures.

However, the damage has been widespread from Paris to Marseille and Lyon, and even further away in the French overseas territories, where a 54-year-old died after being hit by a stray bullet in French Guiana.