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A mob armed with metal rods and fireworks has attacked a police station in the Paris suburbs, city officials said.
An unidentified group of about 40 people, whose motive was unclear, attempted to raid the police station in Champigny-sur-Marne, about nine miles (15 km) southeast of the center. Paris.
The mob tried, but failed, to break into the building Saturday night in the third attack on the station in three years.
Officials said “they were not far from disaster.”
The video posted on social media by the police showed a shower of fireworks in the direction of the station, located in the area of an urbanization known for drug trafficking.
The Paris police headquarters said on Twitter. “Violent attack last night at the Champigny police station with mortar shots and several projectiles. No police officer was injured.”
No one was arrested, but the footage showed broken windows at the police station and damaged cars.
Authorities consider the area a high priority district to restore order.
Champigny Mayor Laurent Jeanne told BFM: “It was an organized attack by about 40 people who wanted to fight. For a few days it has been tense with people who have a certain willingness to fight the police.
“It’s anti-police sentiment. We were not far from a disaster.”
Police officers outside the Champigny-sur-Marne police station after the attack
It is the latest in a series of public order security incidents in France since the end of the COVID-19 lockdown in mid-May.
Ministers and law enforcement agencies are on heightened alert for the rise in crime amid the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
President Emmanuel Macron, who faces a presidential election in less than two years, has been criticized by opponents for crime and public safety since he took power in 2017.
Opinion polls show that the public views his government as the weakest on these issues.
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