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99-460: On 27 June 2023, Nahel Merzouk (25 February 2006 – 27 June 2023), a 17-year-old French youth of Moroccan and Algerian descent, was shot at point-blank range and killed by police officer Florian M., when he didn't comply with a request to turn off ignition and attempted to drive away in Nanterre , a suburb of Paris , France . Initial reporting on the incident (informed by police statements)

198-553: A nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture , history , and language , identified with the country of France . The French people, especially the native speakers of langues d'oïl from northern and central France, are primarily descended from Romans (or Gallo-Romans , western European Celtic and Italic peoples ), Gauls (including the Belgae ), as well as Germanic peoples such as

297-588: A broader public debate regarding aggressive French law enforcement, racial profiling , immigration, and the stakes of naming the suburban violence a "riot" rather than a "revolt". On 28 June, the president of the National Assembly , Yaël Braun-Pivet , asked deputies "to respect a minute of silence in Nahel's memory". France saw a rise in police violence in France in the years before the killing. In 2017,

396-646: A community of French Huguenots settled in South Africa . Most of these originally settled in the Cape Colony , but have since been quickly absorbed into the Afrikaner population. After Champlain's founding of Quebec City in 1608, it became the capital of New France . Encouraging settlement was difficult, and while some immigration did occur, by 1763 New France only had a population of some 65,000. From 1713 to 1787, 30,000 colonists immigrated from France to

495-520: A driving license allowing him to drive the rented Mercedes he died in. According to a paramedic who knew him, his father left his mother before he was born. According to his family's lawyers, Merzouk had no criminal record but the prosecutor confirmed he was "known to police", particularly for resisting arrest, and had been charged with resisting arrest the previous weekend and five times since 2021. According to information leaked to Europe 1 , his police file ( TAJ ) included 15 recorded incidents, including

594-530: A failure to reform law enforcement in a country that has experienced waves of rioting and protests over police conduct. A few hours later, the officer implicated in the killing, was indicted for intentional homicide and remanded in custody. French people France: 67,413,000 French diaspora and ancestry : c.  30 million Asia Middle East Europe North America South America Oceania The French people ( French : Les Français , lit.   'The French') are

693-810: A group of youths reportedly set a bus ablaze. In Mantes-la-Jolie , a town 40 km northwest of Paris, the town hall was set ablaze after being firebombed on the night of 27 June, burning until 3:15 (CEST). Clashes continued throughout the night across France, including in Toulouse and Lille . Unrest was also reported in Asnières , Colombes , Suresnes , Aubervilliers , Clichy-sous-Bois and Mantes-la-Jolie . By 29 June, over 150 people had been arrested, 24 officers had been injured, and 40 cars had been torched. Fearing greater unrest, Darmanin deployed 1,200 riot police and gendarmes in and around Paris, later adding an additional 2,000. On 29 June, he announced that

792-481: A law was passed permitting police to shoot at a vehicle fleeing a traffic stop, if the driver was putting the passengers or passersby at risk. This shooting was the third fatal shooting that occurred during a traffic stop in France in 2023. In 2020, there were three deaths, followed by two in 2021, and 13 in 2022, leading to the indictment of five police officers. The victims were often people of black or Maghrebi origin, leading to allegations of systemic racism within

891-570: A majority of French people had other first languages (local languages such as Occitan , Catalan , Alsatian , West Flemish , Lorraine Franconian , Gallo , Picard or Ch'timi and Arpitan ). Today, many immigrants speak another tongue at home. According to historian Eric Hobsbawm , "the French language has been essential to the concept of 'France'," although in 1789, 50 percent of the French people did not speak it at all, and only 12 to 13 percent spoke it fairly well; even in oïl languages zones, it

990-555: A person in authority" against Florian M. The latter investigation has been assigned to the General Inspectorate of the National Police ( IGPN ). French President Emmanuel Macron declared the incident "inexcusable and unforgivable", adding that it "moved the entire nation". Macron's statements were a rare critique of French law enforcement from government officials. The BBC 's Hugh Schofield attributed this to

1089-531: A third passenger aboard the Mercedes testified that Merzouk received several buttstrokes . According to them, the third buttstroke made Merzouk release the brake pedal, causing the car to move forward, given that the gearbox was automatic. According to BFM TV , this version differs from that put forward by the police, as according to the Prefect of Police of Paris Laurent Nuñez : "the driver had first turned off

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1188-459: A very old slang term in reference to the archers of the long-defunct Royal Watch . Paris also has the " Direction de la Prévention, de la Sécurité et de la Protection " (DPSP) (Prevention, Security and Protection Directorate) which is composed of Agents with municipal police powers titled inspecteurs de sécurité (Security Inspectors). The DPSP reports to the Mayor of Paris. The jurisdiction of

1287-591: Is a large building located in the Place Louis Lépine on the Île de la Cité . This building was built as a barracks for the Garde républicaine from 1863 to 1867 (architect Pierre-Victor Calliat ) and was occupied by the Prefecture in 1871. As it is the capital of France , with government assemblies and offices and foreign embassies, Paris poses special issues of security and public order. Consequently,

1386-433: Is also widely spoken, arguably the largest minority language in France as of the 21st century (a spot previously held by Breton and Occitan ). Modern French society is a melting pot . From the middle of the 19th century, it experienced a high rate of inward migration , mainly consisting of Spaniards , Portuguese , Italians , Arab-Berbers , Jews , Sub-Saharan Africans , Chinese , and other peoples from Africa ,

1485-623: Is estimated that 20,000 settlers were living in Saigon in 1945, and there were 68,430 European settlers living in Madagascar in 1958. 1.6 million European pieds noirs settlers migrated from Algeria , Tunisia and Morocco . In just a few months in 1962, 900,000 pied noir settlers left Algeria in the most massive relocation of population in Europe since the World War II . In

1584-399: Is happening as part of a background evolution and recent studies confirmed the results of their assimilation, showing that "North Africans seem to be characterized by a high degree of cultural integration reflected in a relatively high propensity to exogamy " with rates ranging from 20% to 50%. According to Emmanuel Todd the relatively high exogamy among French Algerians can be explained by

1683-498: Is my home". Indeed, the country has long valued its openness , tolerance and the quality of services available. Application for French citizenship is often interpreted as a renunciation of previous state allegiance unless a dual citizenship agreement exists between the two countries (for instance, this is the case with Switzerland : one can be both French and Swiss). The European treaties have formally permitted movement and European citizens enjoy formal rights to employment in

1782-465: Is prepared to ignore constitutional principles in a bid to put out a potential fire." Left-wing politician and former La France Insoumise party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called for police reform. Éric Ciotti , party leader of the conservative party LR , expressed his support for the police, dubbing them defenders of collective security and denouncing the ensuing unrest as unjustified. French football player Kylian Mbappé took to Twitter to denounce

1881-602: Is such a thing as a "French ethnic group". The discourse of ethno-nationalist groups such as the Front National (FN), however, advances the concept of Français de souche or "indigenous" French. The conventional conception of French history starts with Ancient Gaul, and French national identity often views the Gauls as national precursors, either as biological ancestors (hence the refrain nos ancêtres les Gaulois ), as emotional/spiritual ancestors, or both. Vercingetorix ,

1980-509: Is thought to have survived into the 6th century in France, despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture. Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French, with effects including loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes, and influences in conjugation and word order. Today, the last redoubt of Celtic language in France can be found in

2079-638: The Americas , with the exception of the Huguenots , due to a lower birthrate than in the rest of Europe. However, significant emigration of mainly Roman Catholic French populations led to the settlement of the Province of Acadia , Canada (New France) and Louisiana , all (at the time) French possessions, as well as colonies in the West Indies , Mascarene islands and Africa . On 30 December 1687,

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2178-525: The Danelaw in the region known today as Normandy in the 9th and 10th centuries. This later became a fiefdom of the Kingdom of France under King Charles III . The Vikings eventually intermarried with the local people, converting to Christianity in the process. The Normans, two centuries later, went on to conquer England and Southern Italy . Eventually, though, the largely autonomous Duchy of Normandy

2277-1169: The Franks , the Visigoths , the Suebi and the Burgundians who settled in Gaul from east of the Rhine after the fall of the Roman Empire , as well as various later waves of lower-level irregular migration that have continued to the present day. The Norsemen also settled in Normandy in the 10th century and contributed significantly to the ancestry of the Normans . Furthermore, regional ethnic minorities also exist within France that have distinct lineages, languages and cultures such as Bretons in Brittany , Occitans in Occitania , Basques in

2376-865: The French Basque Country , Catalans in northern Catalonia , Germans in Alsace , Corsicans in Corsica and Flemings in French Flanders . France has long been a patchwork of local customs and regional differences, and while most French people still speak the French language as their mother tongue , languages like Picard , Poitevin-Saintongeais , Franco-Provencal , Occitan , Catalan , Auvergnat , Corsican , Basque , French Flemish , Lorraine Franconian , Alsatian , Norman , and Breton remain spoken in their respective regions. Arabic

2475-568: The French Constitution , according to which "French" is a nationality , and not a specific ethnicity. France sits at the edge of the European peninsula and has seen waves of migration of groups that often settled owing to the presence of physical barriers preventing onward migration. This has led to language and regional cultural variegation, but the extent to which this pattern of migrations showed up in population genetics studies

2574-548: The French West Indies ( French Caribbean ), and in foreign countries with significant French-speaking population groups or not, such as the United States ( French Americans ), Canada ( French Canadians ), Argentina ( French Argentines ), Brazil ( French Brazilians ), Mexico ( French Mexicans ), Chile ( French Chileans ) and Uruguay ( French Uruguayans ). To be French, according to

2673-475: The Industrial Revolution . The pace of industrial growth attracted millions of European immigrants over the next century, with especially large numbers arriving from Poland , Belgium , Portugal , Italy , and Spain . In the period from 1915 to 1950, many immigrants came from Czechoslovakia , Hungary , Russia , Scandinavia and Yugoslavia . Small but significant numbers of Frenchmen in

2772-691: The Middle East and East Asia , and the government, defining France as an inclusive nation with universal values, advocated assimilation through which immigrants were expected to adhere to French values and cultural norms. Nowadays, while the government has let newcomers retain their distinctive cultures since the mid-1980s and requires from them a mere integration , French citizens still equate their nationality with citizenship as does French law. In addition to mainland France, French people and people of French descent can be found internationally, in overseas departments and territories of France such as

2871-787: The Police Nationale provided all of these services directly as a subdivision of France's Ministry of the Interior . Policemen assigned to " la PP " are part of the Police nationale but the Police Prefect reports directly to the Interior Minister , not to the director of the Police nationale ( Directeur général de la Police nationale or DGPN). In Parisian slang, the police were sometimes known as "the archers",

2970-631: The President in the Council of Ministers, and operates under the Minister of the Interior, commands the Prefecture which is responsible for the following: The Prefect of Police can issue arrêtés (local writs ) defining rules pertaining to his field of competency. For instance, the rules of operation and security of Paris public parks are issued as joint arrêtés from the Mayor of Paris and

3069-677: The Saint-Domingue . In 1805, when the French were forced out of Saint-Domingue ( Haiti ), 35,000 French settlers were given lands in Cuba . By the beginning of the 17th century, some 20% of the total male population of Catalonia was made up of French immigrants. In the 18th century and early 19th century, a small migration of French emigrated by official invitation of the Habsburgs to the Austro-Hungarian Empire , now

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3168-543: The United States Census , French people are not asked to define their ethnic appartenance, whichever it may be. The usage of ethnic and racial categorization is avoided to prevent any case of discrimination; the same regulations apply to religious membership data that cannot be compiled under the French Census. This classic French republican non- essentialist conception of nationality is officialized by

3267-401: The 1789 French Revolution . It replaced the ancient kingdom of France, ruled by the divine right of kings . The 1870 Franco-Prussian War , which led to the short-lived Paris Commune of 1871, was instrumental in bolstering patriotic feelings; until World War I (1914–1918), French politicians never completely lost sight of the disputed Alsace-Lorraine region which played a major role in

3366-590: The 1970s, over 30,000 French settlers left Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime as the Pol Pot government confiscated their farms and land properties. In the 1960s, a second wave of immigration came to France, which was needed for reconstruction purposes and for cheaper labour after the devastation brought on by World War II . French entrepreneurs went to Maghreb countries looking for cheap labour, thus encouraging work-immigration to France. Their settlement

3465-562: The 2017 law. On 19 July 2016, Adama Traoré , a 24-year-old black man, died while in custody after being restrained and apprehended by the police. This incident sparked widespread public outcry and protests, which reignited in May 2020 when the officers involved were cleared of any wrongdoing. On 14 June 2023, Alhoussein Camara, a 19-year-old, was killed during a road check in Angoulême . His body

3564-641: The 7th century BCE or earlier, and non-Celtic peoples including the Ligures , Aquitanians and Basques in Aquitaine. The Belgae , who lived in the northern and eastern areas, may have had Germanic admixture; many of these peoples had already spoken Gaulish by the time of the Roman conquest. Gaul was militarily conquered in 58–51 BCE by the Roman legions under the command of General Julius Caesar , except for

3663-760: The Cabinet (staff) itself, the Gendarmerie Nationale Liaison Office, and 6 Local Directorates: and other agencies: with four Administrative Directorates: with two agencies: Before the French Revolution , the head of the Paris Police was the lieutenant général de police , whose office was created in March 1667 when the first modern police force in the world was set up by the government of King Louis XIV to police

3762-598: The Franks, led by the Merovingian king Clovis I and his sons, had consolidated their hold on much of modern-day France. The other major Germanic people to arrive in France, after the Burgundians and the Visigoths , were the Norsemen or Northmen . Known by the shortened name " Norman " in France, these were Viking raiders from modern Denmark and Norway . They settled with Anglo-Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons from

3861-540: The French Revolution, it divided social classes, with the peasants identifying with the native Gauls while the aristocracy identified with the Franks. During the early nineteenth century, intellectuals began using the identification with Gaul instead as a unifying force to bridge divisions within French society with a common national origin myth . Myriam Krepps of the University of Nebraska-Omaha argues that

3960-520: The French police. In May 2023, national representatives at the United Nations Human Rights Council criticized the country's police force and urged the implementation of significant measures to address excessive use of force in demonstrations. The French government has frequently downplayed instances of police violence , sometimes even avoiding the use of the term itself, while police unions opposed repealing or revising

4059-555: The Gaulish chieftain who tried to unite the various Gallic tribes of the land against Roman encroachment but was ultimately vanquished by Julius Caesar , is often revered as a "first national hero". In the famously popular French comic Asterix , the main characters are patriotic Gauls who fight against Roman invaders while in modern days the term Gaulois is used in French to distinguish the "native" French from French of immigrant origins. However, despite its occasional nativist usage,

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4158-403: The Gaulish identity has also been embraced by French of non-native origins as well: notably, Napoleon III , whose family was ultimately of Corsican and Italian roots, identified France with Gaul and Vercingetorix, and declared that "New France, ancient France, Gaul are one and the same moral person." It has been noted that the French view of having Gallic origins has evolved over history. Before

4257-495: The Interior Gérald Darmanin said he would seek the dissolution of a small far-right union, Syndicat France Police, which welcomed the shooting of Merzouk. According to the police, Florian M. fired his weapon as the young driver was about to run him over. This version, citing self-defense, was challenged after the publication of a video showing that the car was not in a position to harm the police officers and

4356-438: The Interior Gérald Darmanin , when asked by a senator from The Republicans to describe "in what way" the rioters were French, replied that "there were many Kevins and Mattéos among those arrested" and said that he thought any identity-based reading of the events would be a mistake. Darmanin repeated that the policeman who shot Merzouk during a traffic check "obviously did not respect the law". The emphasis on immigration by LR

4455-953: The North and Northeast regions have relatives in Germany and Great Britain . Between 1956 and 1967, about 235,000 North African Jews from Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco also immigrated to France due to the decline of the French empire and following the Six-Day War. Hence, by 1968, Jews of North African origin comprised the majority of the Jewish population of France. As these new immigrants were already culturally French they needed little time to adjust to French society. French law made it easy for thousands of settlers ( colons in French), national French from former colonies of North and East Africa , India and Indochina to live in mainland France. It

4554-615: The Police Prefecture provides some services that are normally provided by city governments, its funding partially comes from the City of Paris and other city governments within its jurisdiction. In addition to forces from the National Police, the Police Prefecture has traffic wardens or crossing guards who enforce parking rules; it has recently added some wardens that direct traffic at crossroads and other similar duties, known as circulation , with specific uniforms . Consists of

4653-437: The Prefect of Police. Until 1977, Paris had indeed no elected mayor and the police was essentially in the hands of the préfet de police . However, the powers of the mayor of Paris were increased at the expense of those of the Préfet de Police in 2002, notably for traffic and parking decisions (the préfet retains the responsibility on main thoroughfares such as the Avenue des Champs-Élysées , and on any street during

4752-403: The Prefecture of Police was initially the Seine département . Its jurisdiction also included the communes (municipalities) of Saint-Cloud , Sèvres , Meudon , and Enghien-les-Bains , which were located in the Seine-et-Oise département . These four communes were added in the 19th century to the jurisdiction of the Prefecture of Police in order to ensure special protection of

4851-488: The Préfecture, the municipal police report to the city government, rather than to the national government. Municipal police officers began patrolling city streets on foot, bicycle, and by car starting on October 18, 2021. The goal of the municipal police is to "make neighbourhoods safer and more peaceful and ensure that public space is shared," for example by enforcing laws on parking, littering, breaking up quarrels, and assisting homeless or elderly residents. The préfecture

4950-412: The Roman army and obtained important commands. Their language is still spoken as a kind of Dutch ( French Flemish ) in northern France ( French Flanders ). The Alamans , another Germanic people immigrated to Alsace , hence the Alemannic German now spoken there. The Alamans were competitors of the Franks, and their name is the origin of the French word for "German": Allemand . By the early 6th century,

5049-421: The US and the UK) but as social conflicts born out of socioeconomic problems endangering proper integration. Historically, the heritage of the French people is mostly of Celtic or Gallic , Latin ( Romans ) origin, descending from the ancient and medieval populations of Gauls or Celts from the Atlantic to the Rhone Alps , Germanic tribes that settled France from east of the Rhine and Belgium after

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5148-447: The centuries to France, creating a variegated grouping of peoples. Thus the historian John F. Drinkwater states, "The French are, paradoxically, strongly conscious of belonging to a single nation, but they hardly constitute a unified ethnic group by any scientific gauge." The modern French are the descendants of mixtures including Romans , Celts , Iberians , Ligurians and Greeks in southern France, Germanic peoples arriving at

5247-455: The city of Paris. The office vanished at the start of the French Revolution and police was vested in the hands of the Paris Commune . Reorganized by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1800, the Paris Police has been headed by the préfet de police since that time. Source: Centre historique des Archives nationales, Série Y, Châtelet de Paris , on page 38 of the PDF. Sources: La Grande Encyclopédie , volume 27, page 95, published in 1900. See scan of

5346-474: The colonial link between France and Algeria. A small French descent group also subsequently arrived from Latin America ( Argentina , Chile and Uruguay ) in the 1970s. Most French people speak the French language as their mother tongue , but certain languages like Norman , Occitan languages , Corsican , Euskara , French Flemish and Breton remain spoken in certain regions (see Language policy in France ). There have also been periods of history when

5445-416: The decline of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, a federation of Germanic peoples entered the picture: the Franks , from which the word "French" derives. The Franks were Germanic pagans who began to settle in northern Gaul as laeti during the Roman era. They continued to filter across the Rhine River from present-day Netherlands and Germany between the 3rd and 7th centuries. Initially, they served in

5544-425: The definition of the French nation and therefore of the French people. The decrees of 24 October 1870 by Adolphe Crémieux granted automatic and massive French citizenship to all Jewish people of Algeria. Successive waves of immigrants during the 19th and 20th centuries were rapidly assimilated into French culture . France's population dynamics began to change in the middle of the 19th century, as France joined

5643-418: The driver of the car, then stationary at a red traffic light, to stop. The vehicle started moving and ran the red light. The officers followed the car and alerted their superiors via radio. The car committed multiple traffic violations, endangering a pedestrian and a cyclist. Due to traffic congestion, the vehicle was eventually forced to stop. The police officers got off their motorcycles, pointed their guns at

5742-419: The driver, and ordered him to turn off the engine. Instead, the vehicle started to pull away, and one of the police officers, 38-year-old Florian M., working his ninth consecutive day without a day off, fired a shot at the driver at point-blank range. The vehicle continued forward before crashing into the street sign marking the Nelson Mandela Square at 8:19   am. The rear passenger was arrested when he exited

5841-431: The early hours of the event, before changing their narrative in response to the video evidence and pressure from other media outlets. The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its "shock and consternation the brutal and tragic disappearance of the young Nahel", adding that it trusted the French government to assume its duty of protection and security for Algerian nationals on French territory. The Moroccan press

5940-458: The effects of social media, allowing for the dissemination of such videos with ease, as well as fear stemming from the ensuing riots. Alliance Police nationale , the largest French police union, criticized Macron for "condemn[ing] our colleagues before justice has had the chance to speak". Far-right politician Marine Le Pen , leader of the National Rally party, dubbed Macron's statements as "excessive" and "irresponsible", adding that "the president

6039-416: The end of the Roman Empire such as the Franks and the Burgundians , and some Vikings who mixed with the Normans and settled mostly in Normandy in the 9th century. According to Dominique Schnapper , "The classical conception of the nation is that of an entity which, opposed to the ethnic group, affirms itself as an open community, the will to live together expressing itself by the acceptation of

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6138-405: The engine, restarted the vehicle, then left. It was in this context that the police officer used his firearm." Florian M. is under investigation for manslaughter and was placed in custody for the charge of "voluntary homicide by a person in authority". The police have maintained that the shooting was an act of self-defense, as they argue that Merzouk was driving towards the officer. However, since

6237-409: The fall of the Roman Empire such as the Franks , Burgundians , Allemanni , Visigoths , and Suebi , Latin and Roman tribes such as Ligurians and Gallo-Romans , Basques , and Norse populations largely settling in Normandy at the beginning of the 10th century as well as " Bretons " (Celtic Britons) settling in Brittany in Western France . The name "France" etymologically derives from

6336-429: The family. Merzouk's mother called for a "a revolt for my son" on TikTok . Merzouk's grandmother stated that she lacked forgiveness for the police and government, stating "They killed my grandson, now I don't care about anyone, they took my grandson from me, I will never forgive them in my life, never, never, never." Le Parisien and BFM TV have been criticized for relaying the police's account without any caution in

6435-489: The first article of the French Constitution , is to be a citizen of France, regardless of one's origin, race, or religion ( sans distinction d'origine, de race ou de religion ). According to its principles, France has devoted itself to the destiny of a proposition nation , a generic territory where people are bounded only by the French language and the assumed willingness to live together, as defined by Ernest Renan 's " plébiscite de tous les jours " ('everyday plebiscite') on

6534-409: The government would deploy 40,000 troops nationwide. According to Darmanin, over 1,350 vehicles were set on fire, and over 1,300 arrests were made in connection with the riots. On the afternoon of June 29, thousands of people held a white march led by mothers and activists in Nanterre demanding "justice for Nahel". The participants railed against what they perceived as a culture of police impunity and

6633-399: The ignition. Police shot Merzouk when the Mercedes began moving forward after it had been stopped. The use of firearms by the police, during traffic controls in the event of failure to comply, is currently regulated by a law adopted in 2017. Authorities arrested Florian M. on suspicion of "voluntary homicide by a person in authority". Police unions complained against the arrest. Minister of

6732-483: The imperial/royal residences located there. The Seine département was disbanded in 1968 and the jurisdiction of the Prefecture of Police is now the city of Paris (which is both a commune and a département ) and the three surrounding départements of Hauts-de-Seine , Seine-Saint-Denis , Val-de-Marne . This territory made up of four départements is larger than the pre-1968 Seine département . The Prefecture of Police also has limited jurisdiction over

6831-464: The incident as "unacceptable" and sent condolences to Merzouk's family. Mike Maignan , a footballer for AC Milan , stated on Twitter that "It's always for the same people that being in the wrong leads to death." FC Barcelona footballer Jules Koundé criticized the coverage of the incident, stating that news media were capitalizing on it to "distort the truth" and find excuses to criminalize Merzouk. French actor and comedian Omar Sy sent condolences to

6930-441: The island of Saint-Martin hold French nationality even though they do not speak French as a first language, while their neighbouring French-speaking Haitian immigrants (who also speak a French-creole) remain foreigners. Large numbers of people of French ancestry outside Europe speak other first languages, particularly English, throughout most of North America (with Quebec and Acadians in the Canadian Maritimes being notable, not

7029-473: The national government has been responsible for providing law enforcement and emergency services since the creation of the Lieutenancy General of Police ( lieutenance générale de police ) by Louis XIV on March 15, 1667. Disbanded at the start of the French Revolution in 1789, it was replaced by the current Prefecture of Police created by Napoléon I on February 17, 1800. This means that, up until 2021, Paris did not have its own police municipale and that

7128-656: The nations of Austria , Czech Republic , Hungary , Slovakia , Serbia and Romania . Some of them, coming from French-speaking communes in Lorraine or being French Swiss Walsers from the Valais canton in Switzerland , maintained for some generations the French language and a specific ethnic identity, later labelled as Banat (French: Français du Banat ). By 1788, there were eight villages populated by French colonists. The French First Republic appeared following

7227-476: The northwestern region of Brittany , although this is not the result of a survival of Gaulish language but of a 5th-century AD migration of Brythonic speaking Celts from Britain . The Vulgar Latin in the region of Gallia took on a distinctly local character, some of which is attested in graffiti, which evolved into the Gallo-Romance dialects which include French and its closest relatives. With

7326-467: The only, exceptions), Spanish or Portuguese in southern South America , and Afrikaans in South Africa . The adjective "French" can be used to mean either "French citizen" or "French-speaker", and usage varies depending on the context, with the former being common in France. The latter meaning is often used in Canada, when discussing matters internal to Canada. Generations of settlers have migrated over

7425-484: The organization of demonstrations ). There is also a prefect of Paris , prefect for the Île-de-France region, whose services handle some tasks not devoted to the Police Prefect, such as certain classes of building permits. The PP is headed by a politically appointed prefect who is assisted by the prevote , who is the senior police officer of the force. The Prefecture of Police is divided into three sub-prefectures headed by prefects due to their importance. Because

7524-421: The rules of a unified public domain which transcends all particularisms". This conception of the nation as being composed by a "will to live together," supported by the classic lecture of Ernest Renan in 1882, has been opposed by the French far-right , in particular the nationalist Front National ("National Front" – FN / now Rassemblement National - "National Rally" - RN) party which claims that there

7623-515: The south-east which had already been conquered about one century earlier. Over the next six centuries, the two cultures intermingled, creating a hybridized Gallo-Roman culture . In the late Roman era, in addition to colonists from elsewhere in the Empire and Gaulish natives, Gallia also became home to some immigrant populations of Germanic and Scythian origin, such as the Alans . The Gaulish language

7722-639: The state sector (though not as trainees in reserved branches, e.g., as magistrates ). Seeing itself as an inclusive nation with universal values, France has always valued and strongly advocated assimilation . However, the success of such assimilation has recently been called into question. There is increasing dissatisfaction with, and within, growing ethno-cultural enclaves ( communautarisme ). The 2005 French riots in some troubled and impoverished suburbs ( les quartiers sensibles ) were an example of such tensions. However they should not be interpreted as ethnic conflicts (as appeared before in other countries like

7821-509: The united march against police violence on July 15, 2023. They endorsed the demands of groups of families of victims and activist organizations. Céline Pina  [ fr ] , in an op-ed in Atlantico , and Ivan Rioufol  [ fr ] , in an op-ed in Causeur and during an appearance on CNews , opined that the violence was related to immigration and Islam. The Minister of

7920-407: The use of false license plates and driving without insurance. According to the public prosecutor of Nanterre, two Paris Police Prefecture motorcycle officers noticed a Mercedes-Benz A Class AMG with a Polish license plate driving at high speed in a bus lane, driven by a young-looking person at around 7:55   am. The officers activated their warning signals (audible and visual) and indicated to

8019-431: The vehicle. The front right passenger fled. Florian M. provided first aid to the driver, who was pronounced dead at 9:15   am. Police records indicate that Merzouk was known for previous incidents in which he failed to comply with traffic stops . On the day of his death, it is alleged that he "disobeyed and committed several traffic offences, endangering the lives of a pedestrian and a cyclist", and refused to turn off

8118-404: The video was released, this claim has faced significant criticism. Yassine Bouzrou, a lawyer representing Merzouk, has stated that the video completely disproves this assertion and alleges that the brigadier had an "intention to kill". Other lawyers representing Merzouk have made similar remarks. Two investigations have been initiated: "refusal to comply" against Merzouk, and "voluntary homicide by

8217-511: The view of "a unified territory (one land since the beginning of civilization) and a unified people" which de-emphasized "all disparities and the succession of waves of invaders" was first imprinted on the masses by the unified history curriculum of French textbooks in the late 1870s. Since the beginning of the Third Republic (1871–1940), the state has not categorized people according to their alleged ethnic origins. Hence, in contrast to

8316-477: The whole Île-de-France région for the coordination of law enforcement, including combatting cybercrime . The Prefect of Police, acting as Prefect of the Defense Zone of Paris ( Préfet de la Zone de Défense de Paris ), is in charge of planning non-military defense measures to keep public order, guarantee the security of public services, and organize rescue operations (in case of natural disaster) for

8415-409: The whole Île-de-France région (which is made up of eight départements , the four inner ones being the regular jurisdiction of the Prefecture of Police, and the four outer ones being outside of its regular jurisdiction). As such, he coordinates the work of the departmental préfets of Île-de-France. Headed by a prefect titled The "Prefect of Police", who (as are all prefects) is named by

8514-749: The wider Île-de-France région as the Préfet de Police is also Préfet de Zone de Défense (Prefect for the Defense zone). Since 2017, it has acquired direct responsibility for the three main airports of the Paris area ( Charles de Gaulle , Orly and Le Bourget ). In addition to the Préfecture de Police , the French government created the Paris Municipal Police ( French : Police municipale de Paris ) in 2021. In contrast with

8613-522: The willingness to live together, in Renan's 1882 essay " Qu'est-ce qu'une nation? "). The debate concerning the integration of this view with the principles underlying the European Community remains open. France has been historically open to immigration, although this has changed in recent years. Referring to this perceived openness, Gertrude Stein , wrote: "America is my country but Paris

8712-524: The word Francia , the territory of the Franks . The Franks were a Germanic tribe that overran Roman Gaul at the end of the Roman Empire . In the pre-Roman era, Gaul (an area of Western Europe that encompassed all of what is known today as France, Belgium, part of Germany and Switzerland, and Northern Italy) was inhabited by a variety of peoples who were known collectively as the Gaulish tribes . Their ancestors were Celts who came from Central Europe in

8811-484: The €200,000 raised in support of Merzouk's family. the officer's family will receive €625,000 after taxation and platform fees. An article signed by more than one hundred personalities, including Angela Davis , Achille Mbembe , Thomas Piketty , Annie Ernaux , Eric Cantona , Judith Butler , Ken Loach , Adèle Haenel , Peter Gabriel , and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker was published in L'Humanité , entitled "This time, everyone has seen" and calling for participation in

8910-677: Was repatriated to Conakry , Guinea , by his family and the Guinean authorities. While there, they appealed to France for justice to be served. Nahel Merzouk ( French pronunciation: [naɛl mɛʁzuk] ; Arabic : نايل مرزوق ) was a 17-year-old enrolled at the Lycée Louis-Blériot in Suresnes , where he attended classes for six months before dropping out and working as a pizza delivery driver in Nanterre. He did not have

9009-531: Was also identified in the fourteenth century, consistent with the timing for the Black Death in Europe. Paris Police Prefecture The Paris Police Prefecture supervises the Paris Police force, the Paris Fire Brigade , and various administrative departments in charge of issuing ID cards and driver licenses or monitoring alien residents. The Prefecture of Police also has security duties in

9108-584: Was critical of what it called Algerian interference in internal French domestic affairs and use of the crisis to political advantage. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights asked France to address systemic racism within its police forces, and called for the protests to be peaceful. A fundraiser on GoFundMe for the officer's family was set up by the far-right politician Jean Messiha . When it closed on 4 July, it had raised €1,636,200, far greater than

9207-510: Was described by the magazine Marianne as part of a campaign strategy to attract Eric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen voters in upcoming elections. Public outcry and outrage over the shooting of Merzouk evolved into protests and riots (with some preferring the term "revolt"). In Nanterre, residents protested outside the police headquarters on 27 June, which escalated into rioting. Demonstrators set cars alight, trashed bus stops, and shot fireworks at police. In Viry-Châtillon , just south of Paris,

9306-484: Was incorporated back into the royal domain (i. e. the territory under direct control of the French king) in the Middle Ages . In the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem , founded in 1099, at most 120,000 Franks, who were predominantly French -speaking Western Christians, ruled over 350,000 Muslims, Jews, and native Eastern Christians. Unlike elsewhere in Europe, France experienced relatively low levels of emigration to

9405-587: Was later contradicted by a video posted online, which led to widespread protests and riots . Symbols of the state such as town halls, schools, police stations, and other buildings were attacked. The Interior Ministry reported that more than 5,000 vehicles had been set on fire, along with 10,000 garbage cans; nearly 1,000 buildings had been burnt, damaged or looted; 250 police stations and gendarmeries had been attacked; and more than 700 police officers had been injured. The killing—condemned by President Emmanuel Macron as "inexplicable" and "inexcusable"—became part of

9504-420: Was not heading towards them. According to Le Monde , "the 50-second sequence, which has gone viral on social media, has literally swept away the language elements initially disseminated by police sources and repeated by some media." The video shows that the two police officers were on the driver's side of the Mercedes. The car was moving off when the officer fired the shot at point-blank range. On 30 June 2023,

9603-500: Was not usually used except in cities, and even there not always in the outlying districts . Abroad, the French language is spoken in many different countries – in particular the former French colonies . Nevertheless, speaking French is distinct from being a French citizen. Thus, francophonie , or the speaking of French, must not be confused with French citizenship or ethnicity. For example, French speakers in Switzerland are not "French citizens". Native English-speaking Blacks on

9702-641: Was officialized with Jacques Chirac 's family regrouping act of 1976 ( regroupement familial ). Since then, immigration has become more varied, although France stopped being a major immigration country compared to other European countries. The large impact of North African and Arab immigration is the greatest and has brought racial , socio-cultural and religious questions to a country seen as homogenously European, French and Christian for thousands of years. Nevertherless, according to Justin Vaïsse , professor at Sciences Po Paris , integration of Muslim immigrants

9801-403: Was unclear until the publication of a study in 2019 that used genome wide data. The study identified six different genetic clusters that could be distinguished across populations. The study concluded that the population genetic clusters correlate with linguistic and historical divisions in France and with the presence of geographic barriers such as mountains and major rivers. A population bottleneck

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