Thu 29 June 2023:
The unrest in France continued for a second night as thousands of security personnel were sent in to put an end to demonstrations against the police shooting of a 17-year-old. French President Emmanuel Macron called the killing “inexcusable” and appealed for peace as justice took its course.
On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, protests over the shooting broke out in several towns around Paris. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reported that 150 people had been detained nationwide and that town halls, schools, and police stations had been looted or set on fire.
Following the deadly point-blank shooting of the youngster at a traffic check in the Paris district of Nanterre on Tuesday morning, over 2,000 riot police were dispatched to the area on Wednesday night.
Macron said during an official visit to Marseille in southern France that the killing of the teenager was “inexplicable and unforgivable”.
“Nothing can justify the death of a young person,” he said.
The victim, identified as Nahel M from Nanterre, was pulled over by two police officers for breaking traffic rules while driving a yellow Mercedes on Tuesday morning.
Police initially reported that an officer had shot at the teenager because he was driving his car at him but this version of events was contradicted by a video circulating on social media. That footage shows the two police officers standing by the side of the stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at the driver.
A voice is heard saying: “You are going to get a bullet in the head.” The police officer then appears to fire as the car abruptly drives off.
The 38-year-old policeman filmed firing the lethal shot was taken into custody afterwards and is under investigation for voluntary manslaughter.
On Wednesday night, fireworks were set off in Nanterre as well as other communes in the Hauts-de-Seine region to the west of Paris and in the eastern city of Dijon. Protesters also set fire to garbage cans. According to authorities, a gang of individuals set a bus on fire in the Essonne district, south of the city, after all the passengers got off.
Naima, whose sons knew the victim, said they were “in shock” following the killing.
“They said, ‘Mum, what should we do?’ What’s happening with the police these days? Are they protecting us, or do we need to be protected from the police?” Naima told Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler in Nanterre.
Nahel’s mother posted a video on TikTok calling for a tribute march on Thursday for her son, her only child.
Yassine Bouzrou, their lawyer, said he would submit an extra complaint for false testimony in connection with the accusation that Nahel attempted to run over the police officer.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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