A police officer shot dead the teenager, Nahel, who was of Algerian heritage, during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre earlier this week.

Footage of the incident captured by a passerby showed two officers standing on the driver’s side of the car, one of whom discharged his gun at the driver despite not appearing to face any immediate threat.

Protesters have been carrying signs that read “the police kill” and hundreds of government buildings have been damaged as Nahel’s death taps into anger over racial bias in the country.

Successive nights of violence across France and its overseas territories have in turn prompted French officials to launch a crackdown, with more than 40,000 police officers mobilized to patrol cities across the country.

Macron gave himself 100 days to heal the country and reset his presidency after weeks of protests against unpopular pension reforms raised the retirement age to 64 earlier this year. But hopes for a reset are now likely to be hampered by the widespread protests. It has not gone unnoticed that Macron attended an Elton John concert on Wednesday as cars burned and buildings were defaced across the country.