While the French government had not yet called a state of emergency on Thursday night, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said “the state’s response will be extremely firm.”
Two town halls were set ablaze in the second night of race riots, while the country’s politically powerful police unions have turned against the Élysée Palace, saying their officers are being turned into scapegoats.
The French establishment has been quick to condemn the police for structural racism as violence engulfed the western Parisian suburb of Nanterre Tuesday night.
The news comes days after a Jordanian migrant with three deportation orders was arrested for allegedly raping a woman in the emergency room at a Parisian hospital.
