More than 700 arrested and a mayor’s home was attacked

Police officers walk as they try to disperse protesters with tear gas during a demonstration against police in Marseille, southern France on July 1.

Clement Mahoudeau /AFP via Getty Images

Police in France have arrested more than 700 protesters over the course of a fifth consecutive night of violence across several major cities, including its two largest, the capital Paris and the port city of Marseille.

The clashes between tens of thousands of police officers and largely young men out on the streets occurred in city centers, as well as suburbs and small towns, in response to the death of Nahel M., a 17-year-old teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer Tuesday after being stopped for a traffic violation.

Large groups engaged in running battles with heavily armed riot police wearing protective clothing — cat and mouse-like encounters involving provocation and response that continued into the early hours of Sunday in some of France’s most iconic locations, like the old port of Marseille.

Tourists in several parts of France watched as protesters — some as young as 14 — clashed with law enforcement.

President Emmanuel Macron had swiftly condemned the death of the teenage driver of Algerian descent, known only by his first name, as “inexplicable,” but the French leader has also urged parents to take responsibility for teenagers who have been participating in conflagrations up and down the country, often without the knowledge of their family members.

“No justice, no peace,” one young man screamed into an NPR reporter’s microphone, as he sprinted away from helmeted police in Marseille who are among the…