The weekend saw a number of violent incidents targeting police, including cars set ablaze by thugs, officers who were knifed and the shooting of an illegal music video.

Tensions are still palpable across France, where police are often targeted by attacks. There were several incidents over the weekend. Some involved a single perpetrator, but in one case, hundreds of youngsters attacked police after an illegal music video shoot.

In Amiens, 120 kms from Paris, local youngsters began provoking the officers in the usual way: they set garbage pails and cars on fire. 

Later, they attacked the arriving firefighters and officers with fireworks and stones. Some have even filmed the clash on video and uploaded their videos to social media. Their laughter is clearly audible in the background.

The motive behind the attack is unclear, and there are no news of any injuries. Apparently, authorities made no arrests after the incident.

Mantes-la-Jolie, a town in Yvelines département west of the capital, witnessed an even bigger clash. After having learned about the illegal filming of a music video, police went to the scene to disperse the crowd. According to Le Parisien, the unauthorised shoot was illegal in several respects as more than a hundred young people gathered at the scene, many of whom did not wear a mask or adhere to social distancing rules.

The young people involved and those watching the video shoot attacked the arriving officers, which devolved into clashes in several parts of the city, with thugs hurling stones and fireworks at police. According to press reports, no personal injuries occurred and no one was arrested.

The protagonist of the music clip, a local rapper known as Niaks, later commented on the events on Twitter, thanking all those locals and young people from surrounding towns who were present and took part in the filming.

Fortunately, the previous two attacks on authorities resulted in no personal injuries, but an officer who was attacked by a 19-year-old knife-wielding younsger in Nantes was not so lucky. He sustained injuries to his thigh in the encounter with the young man who, besides using a knife, also carried a hatchet and two additional blades.

According to the French regional newspaper Ouest France, patrolling officers noticed two people placing road buoys and other street fixtures in the middle of the road. They ran when they saw the approaching officers, but one of them later returned with a knife in his hand. A 27-year-old patrol officer engaged with the 19-year-old attacker, who stabbed him in the thigh. The teen was subdued and arrested, and he will likely be prosecuted for attempted homicide.