Demonstrations in support of law and order were held at French town halls on Monday, just a week after the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old by police sparked violent protests. The unrest has been met with widespread outrage and accusations of racism against the French police force. The country has been battling riots and looting, and the government deployed 45,000 police and gendarmes nationwide overnight from Sunday to Monday, the same figure as the previous two nights. In total, 157 people were arrested in relation to the unrest nationwide.

The demonstrations were called a "mobilisation of citizens for a return to republican order" after a Paris suburb mayor's home was rammed with a flaming car. In a statement, an association of the country's mayors noted that areas "everywhere in France are the scene of serious unrest, which targets republican symbols with extreme violence". Internal affairs investigators on Monday began interviewing a passenger in the car Nahel was driving without a licence, a police source said.

The attack on the mayor's home sparked widespread condemnation from both the left and right. Prosecutors have opened an attempted murder investigation. The unrest has become one of the biggest challenges to President Emmanuel Macron since he took office in 2017 and he postponed a state visit to Germany in order to focus on the crisis. He will meet the heads of the two chambers of parliament on Monday, and the mayors of more than 220 towns hit by the unrest on Tuesday.

Regional authorities announced tens of millions of euros in emergency support to repair public buildings and small businesses. Youths in Paris' deprived suburbs face "daily difficulties, unequal access to study, to work, to housing," according to Nadia, the grandmother of Nahel, who was of Algerian origin. She said rioters were only using his death as a "pretext" and called for calm. The protests present a fresh crisis for Mr. Macron, who had been hoping to press on with pledges for his second term after seeing off months of demonstrations that erupted in January over raising the retirement age.

He has ordered "meticulous and longer-term work to understand in depth the reasons that led to these events," according to a presidential official. Demonstrations began at French town halls on Monday, opposing a week of violent protests sparked by the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M. by police. The unrest has seen riots, looting, and a fireman killed while seeking to douse burning vehicles north of Paris. The government deployed 45,000 police and gendarmes nationwide overnight from Sunday to Monday, and 157 people were arrested in relation to the unrest nationwide.

The Interior Ministry has opened an attempted murder investigation into the attack on the Paris suburb mayor's home, which was rammed with a flaming car. Amidst the violence, a collection for the family of the 38-year-old policeman who fired the fatal shot topped 930,000 euros. However, Nadia, Nahel's grandmother, said rioters were only using his death as a pretext and called for calm. The protests present a challenge for President Emmanuel Macron, who had been hoping to press on with pledges for his second term after seeing off months of demonstrations that erupted in January.

He has ordered an in-depth investigation into the root causes of the unrest and postponed a state visit to Germany. Regional authorities have announced emergency support to repair public buildings and small businesses. Meanwhile, youths in Paris' deprived suburbs face "daily difficulties, unequal access to study, to work, to housing," according to Nadia. The demonstrations at French town halls on Monday showed that citizens are seeking a return to republican order, as the violence appears to be diminishing. However, it is clear that questions remain about its origins and the government is working to ensure that the underlying issues are addressed.