The police shot and killed a 17-year-old boy during a traffic stop on Tuesday. The case has been condemned by several public figures, up to and including the president.
The whole of France is shocked by Tuesday’s events.
Two police officers stopped a 17-year-old teenager Nahel M’s for a car traffic violation in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. After this, the boy was shot.
According to the police’s original version, the boy was shot because he was driving towards the police. However, the social media videos verified by the news agency AFP paint a different picture of the events.
The video shows two police officers standing next to a stopped car, one of whom is pointing a gun at the driver.
– You get a bullet in your skull, says the voice on the video.
The car drives off, after which the police shoot at the driver. The car continues its journey for a while until it derails from the street. Moments later the driver dies.
Now the 38-year-old policeman who opened fire has been arrested and charged with murder.
Nahel M’s lawyer says that he also demands charges against the other police officer for complicity in the murder.
Widespread protests
The shooting incident has caused widespread outrage, and it also received a lot of attention from public figures.
For example, a football star Kylian Mbappé took a stand on the matter on Twitter.
– I feel bad because of my France. The situation is unacceptable. All my thoughts are with Nahel’s family and loved ones, a little angel who left far too soon.
The goalkeeper representing the French national football team Mike Maignan in turn highlighted structural racism.
– Listen to the skull. It always gets the same people who are in the wrong place, Maignan wrote on Twitter.
Last year, the police shot a total of 13 people dead in connection with traffic stops. According to Reuters, most of them were of Arab or black background.
Nahel is also said to be of Algerian background. Tuesday’s shooting is the second shooting incident recorded this year.
It also immediately sparked widespread unrest in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, from where it spread across France.
Dozens of cars were set on fire. The rioters shot off fireworks and the police used tear gas.
During the night, 31 people were arrested and 24 police officers were slightly injured, the country’s interior minister said by Gérald Darman told.
British broadcasting company BBC writethat Tuesday’s shooting symbolized the inflamed relations between the police and the disaffected people living in the city’s suburbs.
The decision-makers also understood this.
Usually the minister of the interior who defended the police in similar shooting situations by Gérald Darman called the video of the shooting “very shocking”, tells France 24 news channel.
According to Darmanin, the police officer will be dismissed if the accusations against him remain valid.
President Emmanuel Macron called the incident “unacceptable” and “inexcusable”.
– Nothing justifies the death of a young man, Macron said.
The opposition’s criticism was even sharper.
Far leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon demanded “reorganization of the entire police force”.
Sources: AFP, Reuters