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Nanterre, France: Demonstrators angry after a 17-year-old boy was shot by police set cars and buildings on fire in the Paris suburbs and unrest spread to some other French cities and towns Wednesday night and Thursday morning, despite increased security efforts and calls from the president to Calm.
The murder of 17-year-old Nael on Tuesday during a traffic check in Nanterre, caught on video, shocked the country and sparked long-running tensions between young people and police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods across France.
Nael’s surname has not been revealed by the authorities or his family.
Clashes first broke out on Tuesday night in and near the city of Nanterre, west of Paris, and the government deployed 2,000 police to maintain order on Wednesday. But the violence resumed after nightfall, and firefighters and police scrambled to contain the protesters and put out several fires.
On Thursday, the national police service reported fires or skirmishes in several cities overnight, from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north, although Nanterre and other Paris suburbs were the ring of tensions. Paris police announced the arrest of 35 people and dozens more were reported across the country. The number of injured was not immediately released.
Several cars were set on fire in Nanterre and demonstrators set off fireworks and threw stones at police, who fired repeated volleys of tear gas. Flames shot from three floors of a building, and a fire was reported at a power station. A fire destroyed the town hall in the Paris suburb of Lille-Saint-Denis, close to the French national stadium and the venue for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Nanterre prosecutor’s office said the police officer charged with murder is in custody on suspicion of manslaughter and could face preliminary charges as soon as Thursday.
Nael’s mother has called for a silent march Thursday in his honor in the square where he was killed.
French activists have renewed calls to address what they see as systemic police abuse, particularly in neighborhoods like the one where Nael lives, where many residents suffer from poverty and racial or class discrimination. Government officials condemned the killing and sought to distance themselves from the police officer’s actions.
President Emmanuel Macron called the killing “inexplicable and unforgivable” and called for calm, telling reporters in Marseille that “nothing justifies the death of a young person”.
Videos of the incident shared online show two police officers leaning into the driver’s side window of a yellow car before the car sped away as one of the officers shot through the window. Videos show the car later crashed into a nearby post.
The prosecutor’s office said that the victim, who was driving the vehicle, sustained a gunshot wound and died at the scene.
Bouquets of orange and yellow roses now mark the site of the shooting, in Nelson Mandela Square in Nanterre.
Speaking to Parliament, Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne said: “The appalling images broadcast yesterday show an intrusion that clearly does not appear to be complying with the rules of engagement for our police forces.”
Fatal use of firearms is less common in France than in the United States, although many people have died or suffered injuries at the hands of French police In recent years, leading to calls for more accountability. France has also seen protests against racial profiling and other forms of injustice in the wake of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota.
Asked about police abuses, Macron said justice must be allowed to take its course.
Nael’s family’s lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, told the Associated Press that they want the police officer to be tried for murder rather than manslaughter.
French soccer star Kylian Mbappe, who grew up in the Paris suburb of Bondy, was among the many shocked by what happened.
“I hurt for France,” he wrote on Twitter.
The murder of 17-year-old Nael on Tuesday during a traffic check in Nanterre, caught on video, shocked the country and sparked long-running tensions between young people and police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods across France.
Nael’s surname has not been revealed by the authorities or his family.
Clashes first broke out on Tuesday night in and near the city of Nanterre, west of Paris, and the government deployed 2,000 police to maintain order on Wednesday. But the violence resumed after nightfall, and firefighters and police scrambled to contain the protesters and put out several fires.
On Thursday, the national police service reported fires or skirmishes in several cities overnight, from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north, although Nanterre and other Paris suburbs were the ring of tensions. Paris police announced the arrest of 35 people and dozens more were reported across the country. The number of injured was not immediately released.
Several cars were set on fire in Nanterre and demonstrators set off fireworks and threw stones at police, who fired repeated volleys of tear gas. Flames shot from three floors of a building, and a fire was reported at a power station. A fire destroyed the town hall in the Paris suburb of Lille-Saint-Denis, close to the French national stadium and the venue for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Nanterre prosecutor’s office said the police officer charged with murder is in custody on suspicion of manslaughter and could face preliminary charges as soon as Thursday.
Nael’s mother has called for a silent march Thursday in his honor in the square where he was killed.
French activists have renewed calls to address what they see as systemic police abuse, particularly in neighborhoods like the one where Nael lives, where many residents suffer from poverty and racial or class discrimination. Government officials condemned the killing and sought to distance themselves from the police officer’s actions.
President Emmanuel Macron called the killing “inexplicable and unforgivable” and called for calm, telling reporters in Marseille that “nothing justifies the death of a young person”.
Videos of the incident shared online show two police officers leaning into the driver’s side window of a yellow car before the car sped away as one of the officers shot through the window. Videos show the car later crashed into a nearby post.
The prosecutor’s office said that the victim, who was driving the vehicle, sustained a gunshot wound and died at the scene.
Bouquets of orange and yellow roses now mark the site of the shooting, in Nelson Mandela Square in Nanterre.
Speaking to Parliament, Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne said: “The appalling images broadcast yesterday show an intrusion that clearly does not appear to be complying with the rules of engagement for our police forces.”
Fatal use of firearms is less common in France than in the United States, although many people have died or suffered injuries at the hands of French police In recent years, leading to calls for more accountability. France has also seen protests against racial profiling and other forms of injustice in the wake of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota.
Asked about police abuses, Macron said justice must be allowed to take its course.
Nael’s family’s lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, told the Associated Press that they want the police officer to be tried for murder rather than manslaughter.
French soccer star Kylian Mbappe, who grew up in the Paris suburb of Bondy, was among the many shocked by what happened.
“I hurt for France,” he wrote on Twitter.
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