Amid ongoing violent protests in France, a video of President Emmanuel Macron attending an Elton John concert has sparked anger online. The footage showed the French leader tapping his feet along to the 76-year-old’s performance of hits like Saturday Night and Alright for Fighting at the Accor Arena in Paris. The President’s wife, Brigitte, also attended the show. The following night, as more than 100 people were arrested and fires raged on France streets, the President held an emergency security meeting with ministers and called for calm. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin vowed to be “extremely firm” with demonstrators, saying they had attacked police stations and schools and looted shops. He said around 40,000 police officers have been deployed nationwide to quell the unrest.
Macron has sparked criticism by appearing out of touch with the escalating crisis, particularly among activists who accuse him of erasing France’s secularist identity. The government has been accused of favoring the rich and white, and the President was previously criticized for pushing through unpopular pension reforms. The riots have also highlighted the French public’s divisions on immigration and Islam.
In a speech Thursday, Macron condemned the violence as “absolutely unjustifiable” and praised police for their efforts to prevent the riots from spreading. He pledged to step up measures to combat “copycat” violence, including asking social media sites to remove the most sensitive footage of rioting and disclose identities of users who are inciting violence, SkyNews reports. He has also urged the country’s massively beefed-up police forces to focus on hotspots to prevent further damage.
On Friday, Macron cut short an EU summit in Brussels and returned to Paris for a cabinet crisis meeting, as hundreds of cars were torched and state buildings set on fire. He warned that continued unrest would derail the government’s economic agenda and sparked anger by calling Nahel’s death “inexplicable and unforgivable.”
Macron blamed social media for fuelling the copycat violence, saying it had played a significant role in recent events. He pushed back on calls to declare a state of emergency, which could allow him to deploy additional forces and ban public gatherings.
But he said the government would continue addressing social inequalities and ensuring the police force is a “respectful and humane” organization. The police service has been scrutinized for how it handled the shooting of a 17-year-old man of North African heritage. The incident sparked protests nationwide on Tuesday, resulting in clashes between demonstrators and police. The boy’s family has demanded a full inquiry. Police have denied the claims that they used excessive force. Eyewitnesses and lawyers for the boy’s family have contested their version of events. They allege that he was shot in the chest as he drove away from officers trying to pull him over for a routine traffic violation. The prosecutors have opened an investigation into the case.
