Background: Gave incorrect first picture
Two motorcycle police officers stop a car in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on June 27 and the 17-year-old driver, named in French media as Nahel, is shot at close range in the chest and dies.
The police initially stated that the shots had been fired because the 17-year-old was driving the car towards the officers, but a video clip that is spreading on social media shows that the police’s first version is not correct.
“You’re going to get a bullet in the head,” one of the two motorcycle cops is heard shouting in the clip. They stand next to the car and the gun is aimed through the driver’s seat window. A shot fires off, whereupon the car accelerates rapidly and crashes into a pole some distance away. The driver dies shortly afterwards.
The 38-year-old police officer who is seen holding the gun in the clip is later arrested, suspected of the corresponding murder.
The fatal shooting revives the debate about police violence and discrimination against residents of low-income areas of France.
Overnight on Sunday, police arrested over 700 people – bringing the total to over 3,000 since Tuesday when the unrest escalated.
According to authority assessments, the last night’s violence was less intense than previous nights.
However, a local mayor’s home in Paris was targeted by a car attack. The act was condemned by the country’s Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne who called it “particularly shocking”.
French President Emmanuel Macron earlier on Sunday summoned ministers for a “conciliation meeting” to be held in the evening.
The meeting is attended by Prime Minister Borne, Minister of the Interior Darmanin and Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti, among others.
The unrest in France began as a result of a 17-year-old, Nahel, being shot dead by police in sensational fashion earlier this week.
On Sunday, Nahel’s grandmother went to the media with a call to those participating in the riots to stop vandalizing.
Graffiti reading “Riot for Nahel, explosion for Darmanin”, referring to French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.