French PM condemns shocking attack on Paris Mayor's home, vows to bring perpetrators to justice

Paris [France], July 2 : Slamming the attack on Paris Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun's home early Sunday morning, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, called the incident "particularly shocking" and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

He made the remarks during her visit to the Paris suburb of L'Hay-les-Roses, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris on Sunday.

Along with her, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin also visited the Paris suburb to show their support for local mayor Vincent Jeanbrun.

Amid the heavy protests, the house of a Mayor of a Paris suburb was attacked early Sunday morning.

Earlier in the day, PM Borne took to Twitter and called the attack as an "intolerable act" adding that the perpetrators will be prosecuted with the "utmost firmness".

"The attacks on the mayor @VincentJeanbrun and his family are intolerable. To this elected representative of the Republic and to all the elected victims of violence, I repeat my solidarity and that of the Nation. The culprits of these heinous acts will be prosecuted with the utmost firmness," he said on Twitter.

At the time of the attack, mayor Jeanbrun was staying in the heavily barricaded town hall. The rioters torched his car and rammed their own vehicle into his house. The mayor's wife and two children were able to escape through the backyard during the assault, France 24 reported.

"At 1:30 a.m., while I was at the city hall like the past three nights, individuals rammed their car upon my residence before setting fire to it to burn my house, inside which my wife and my two young children slept," said mayor Vincent Jeanbrun.

Protests have erupted in France after the death of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was shot by a police officer in Nanterre earlier this week. The funeral of Nahel Merzouk took place at a mosque in Nanterre on Saturday amid heavy security presence.

Meanwhile, Germany is also watching the intense situation in France "with concern" and expressed confidence that the French President will find ways to improve the situation.

A day after President Emmanuel Macron postponed a state visit to his country over the violence, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday that he was following riots in France "with concern", France 24 reported.

France is a "friendly neighbouring country" and Paris and Berlin together "make sure that the European Union, which is so important to our common future, works well," Scholz told broadcaster ARD in an interview.

"That is why we are of course looking at (the riots) with concern, and I very much hope, and I am certainly convinced, that the French president will find ways to ensure that this situation improves quickly," France 24 quoted Scholz as saying.

The German presidency announced Saturday that Macron was cancelling his scheduled visit over the nationwide violence in France.

The death of Nahel Merzouk has sparked a debate on policing in France's marginalised communities and raised questions on whether race played a role in his death, the CNN report said.

The officer who is accused of shooting him was taken to jail. Nahel Merzouk's mother Mounia while speaking to television station France 5 on Friday blamed only the officer who shot her son for his death.