CAYENNE (AP) — Riots have erupted in French Caribbean territories to protest the police shooting death of a teenager in a Paris suburb, with at least one person killed as people set fire to dumpsters and damaged buildings.
The worst violence so far was in French Guiana, where authorities said that police officers came under fire and that a stray bullet killed a 54-year-old government worker late Thursday in the capital, Cayenne.
Columns of thick black smoke rose above some neighborhoods in Cayenne, turning streets hazy as police tried to quell protesters in the small territory on the shoulder of South America. Authorities urged calm as the territory braced for another possible night of rioting.
Officials said Friday that the man who was killed worked in the government’s mosquito control office and was on his balcony when he was hit by the bullet.
“(It’s) a level of violence that is difficult to understand,” Public Safety Director Philippe Jos told reporters.
French Guiana’s prefect, Thierry Queffelec, said businesses and public transportation would shut down early on Friday evening, and he announced a temporary ban on the sale and transportation of gasoline at night. He also said some 300 officers would be deployed Friday night along with drones and helicopters.
At least six people had been arrested, including five minors. No one was charged in the killing of the government worker.
Smaller demonstrations also were reported in the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, where no injuries or deaths were reported.
Residents in the French Caribbean, where racial tensions have long simmered and where some feel oppressed and ignored by France, have identified with those protesting the teen’s killing in France, where officials are grappling with rioting across the country.
Unrest also appeared in other French overseas territories, including on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion. Since Wednesday, protesters there have set garbage bins ablaze, thrown projectiles at police during clashes and damaged cars and buildings, regional officials said in a news release.
BY DÁNICA COTO/Associated Press