Reactions to police violence continue in France: Protests flare up

Tensions have escalated in the Manche department of France, where a 19-year-old was shot while attempting to flee from police.

According to reports in the national press, a group gathered in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, located in the Manche department in the north of the country, to protest police violence.

A group of approximately 80 people, who gathered in the neighborhood where the young man named "Sulivan" lived ahead of the trial of the officer who shot him, set dozens of vehicles on fire and smashed the windows of businesses.

Three security personnel were injured during the violent incidents.

Hundreds of firefighters and police officers were dispatched to the region to bring the events in the neighborhood under control.

The protesters demanded that the police officer, who appeared in court on charges of "intentional homicide" against Sulivan, be held in custody during the trial.

WHAT HAPPENED?

On the night connecting June 9 to June 10 in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, Manche, police had signaled a driver who exceeded the speed limit to "Stop."

During the ensuing chase, which occurred because the driver did not comply with the order, 19-year-old Sulivan, who was one of three people in the vehicle, was shot by police while attempting to flee.

On March 14, in Aubervilliers, located in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb of Paris, a motorcycle rider did not comply with a police "Stop" order, and the motorcycle collided with a police vehicle during the chase.

The death of the 18-year-old motorcycle rider at the scene of the accident had sparked protests in the capital.

Furthermore, on June 27, 2023, French police opened fire on a vehicle containing three people in Nanterre, killing the 17-year-old driver, Nahel M.

Nahel's death led to widespread protests, with those reacting to police violence taking to the streets in various cities and clashing with police.