He murder of a 17-year-old boy at the hands of the police yesterday morning on the outskirts of Paris, in France, once again put the controversy over the police violence. The incident sparked intense riots in the capital, and now there are fears of a possible social outbreak.
The French government did a call for calm during this Wednesday, after the death of Nahel. The case of the 17-year-old boy shot by refusing to stop your car at a police checkpointshocked the country and was condemned by authorities, politicians and celebrities, from the centrist president Emmanuel Macron to the footballer Kylian Mbappé.
Police sources initially indicated that an officer opened fire when the driver of the vehicle tried to ram two members of the motorized police on Tuesday, in the Nanterre department, west of Paris.
But video posted on social media shows an officer holding the driver at gunpoint and shooting him at point-blank range as he pulls away. In the recording, someone is heard exclaiming: “You’re going to take a bullet to the head!”although it is not clear who says it.
If the murder of a young driver by the Police had taken place in Russia, China, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, there would even be a UN condemnation, but as it has happened in France, it is forgotten. Europe already copies the US even its murderous policepic.twitter.com/wI89hgYpmz
— Aníbal Garzón 🌎 (@AnibalGarzon) June 28, 2023
The young man’s escape ended a few dozen meters away, when the car crashed into a pole. LThe victim died shortly after after being hit in the thorax.
The 38-year-old agent who shot the shot is in provisional detention in the framework of an investigation voluntary homicide committed by a public officialsaid the prosecution.
A policeman killed a teenager in France: criticism from Mbappé and Macron
«Nothing, nothing justifies the death of a young manMacron said. The government spokesman, Olivier Véran, had called shortly before “for calm” in a context of “very strong emotion.”
“The pictures suggest that the legal intervention framework was not respected» from the police, said Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
“The death penalty no longer exists in France. No policeman has the right to kill, except in self-defense, “said the leftist politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon on his side.
I feel bad for my France. 💙🤍💔💔💔
An unacceptable situation.
All my thoughts go out to Naël’s family and loved ones, this little angel who left far too soon.— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) June 28, 2023
«my france hurts“Tweeted the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star Kylian Mbappé, who in 2020 had already reacted to the beating of a black music producer, Michel Zecler, by police officers in Paris.
A policeman killed a teenager in France: the reaction of the right
These positions were criticized by one of the main police unions, the Alliance, and by leaders of the extreme right. Alliance considered “inconceivable that the President of the Republic, like some political leaders, artists or other mock the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary by condemning our colleagues before it is pronounced».
The leader and former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, of National Regroupment (RN, far-right), denounced an “irresponsible” reaction by Macron.
A policeman killed a teenager in France: a tribute march and the fear of new overflows
After Nahel’s death, nighttime riots broke out in the Paris region and especially in Nanterre, with a toll of 31 arrested, 24 officers injured and more than forty cars burnedaccording to the official balance.
“Our city woke up shocked, damaged, scarred and concerned by this wave of violence,” said the mayor of Nanterre, Patrick Jarry, calling for calm and asking “justice for Nahel.”
Last night there were riots over the death of young Nahel, which ended with cars being set on fire.
The authorities plan to deploy some 2,000 riot police on Wednesday night to prevent further disturbances.
Nahel’s mother called on the TikTok social network to a march in honor of his son this Thursday near the place where he lost his life. “It’s a riot for my son,” she said.
A policeman killed a teenager in France: what is the situation of police violence
Security forces in France are often the target of accusations of excessive use of force, such as during the chaotic 2022 Champions League final or this year’s protests against an unpopular pension reform.
But this new tragedy relaunched the recurring debate on police violence, especially when 13 people died in similar circumstances in 2022. In mid-June, a Guinean was killed near Angouleme (centre) by a gunshot by an agent.
In May, several countries expressed their concern to the United Nations about police violence in France, as well as racial discrimination, during the periodic review that UN countries undergo every four years.