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NANTRERE (Reuters) – A French police officer who shot and killed a 17-year-old driver will be investigated for first-degree murder, officials said on Thursday, after two days of fires and violent protests that left dozens of officers injured.
Some 40,000 police will be deployed overnight to quell the violence that gripped cities and towns in the aftermath of the shooting.
The videotaped killing of 17-year-old Nael during a traffic check on Tuesday shocked the country and sparked long-running tensions between youth and police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods around. France.
Protesters set cars and public buildings on fire Paris The riots and suburbs spread to some other French cities and towns.
“Anarchist professionals must go home,” said Home Secretary Gerald Darmanin. “There will be a lot of police and gendarmerie present tonight.”
Darmanin said 170 police officers were injured in the unrest, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.
The prosecutor of Nanterre, Pascal Brach, said he had requested the officer’s detention. This decision must be made by another judge.
Brash said that, based on a preliminary investigation, it had concluded that “the conditions for the lawful use of the weapon were not met.”
The public prosecutor said three people were in the car when police tried to stop it on Tuesday. Nael managed to avoid stopping by going through a red light. He is later stuck in a traffic jam.
The two officers involved said they drew their weapons to prevent him from starting the car again.
The officer who fired one shot said he wanted to stop the car from leaving and because he was afraid the car might hit someone, including him or a colleague, according to Brash.
He added that the two officers said they felt “threatened” by seeing the car drive away.
Brash said two judges have been appointed to lead the investigation. Under the French legal system, which differs from the American and British systems, judges are often appointed to lead investigations.
In a separate case, preliminary charges have been laid against a police officer who killed a 19-year-old Guinean man in western France earlier this month, according to a statement from the local prosecutor on Wednesday. The man was shot and killed by an officer while trying to escape from a traffic stop. Investigations are still ongoing.
Clashes first broke out on Tuesday night in and around the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where Nahil was killed, and the government deployed 2,000 police to maintain order on Wednesday. But the violence resumed after dusk.
Nael’s surname has not been revealed by the authorities or his family. In previous statements, the family’s lawyers spelled the name Nael.
Police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and put out several fires overnight that damaged schools, police stations, municipalities or other public buildings, according to a national police spokesperson. On Thursday, the national police 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.
The spokesman said police had arrested 150 people across the country, more than half of them in the Paris region. She was not authorized to make her name public as per police rules.
The number of injured was not immediately released.
Scenes of violence reverberated in the suburbs of France in 2005, when the deaths of 15-year-old Bona Traoré and 17-year-old Zed Bina led to three weeks of rioting across the country, exposing anger and resentment at neglected, crime-ridden suburban housing projects. .
The boys entered an electricity substation to hide from the police in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, and were electrocuted.
French president Emmanuel Macron An emergency security meeting was held Thursday about the violence.
“These actions are totally unjustified, so that complete peace can be restored,” Macron said at the start of the meeting, which aims to secure hotspots and plan for the coming days.
Macron also said it was time for “remembrance and respect” as Nael’s mother called for a silent march on Thursday in his honor in the square where he was killed.
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.
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.
Macron called the killing “inexplicable and unforgivable” and called for calm, telling reporters in Marseille on Wednesday that “nothing justifies the death of a young man”.
Videos of the shooting shared online show two police officers leaning into the driver-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 the driver 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.”
The 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, prompting 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.
The latest available government statistics show 17 people were killed after being shot by police and gendarmes in 2021.
Asked about police abuses, Macron said justice must be allowed to take its course.
The Nahl 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.
Some 40,000 police will be deployed overnight to quell the violence that gripped cities and towns in the aftermath of the shooting.
The videotaped killing of 17-year-old Nael during a traffic check on Tuesday shocked the country and sparked long-running tensions between youth and police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods around. France.
Protesters set cars and public buildings on fire Paris The riots and suburbs spread to some other French cities and towns.
“Anarchist professionals must go home,” said Home Secretary Gerald Darmanin. “There will be a lot of police and gendarmerie present tonight.”
Darmanin said 170 police officers were injured in the unrest, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.
The prosecutor of Nanterre, Pascal Brach, said he had requested the officer’s detention. This decision must be made by another judge.
Brash said that, based on a preliminary investigation, it had concluded that “the conditions for the lawful use of the weapon were not met.”
The public prosecutor said three people were in the car when police tried to stop it on Tuesday. Nael managed to avoid stopping by going through a red light. He is later stuck in a traffic jam.
The two officers involved said they drew their weapons to prevent him from starting the car again.
The officer who fired one shot said he wanted to stop the car from leaving and because he was afraid the car might hit someone, including him or a colleague, according to Brash.
He added that the two officers said they felt “threatened” by seeing the car drive away.
Brash said two judges have been appointed to lead the investigation. Under the French legal system, which differs from the American and British systems, judges are often appointed to lead investigations.
In a separate case, preliminary charges have been laid against a police officer who killed a 19-year-old Guinean man in western France earlier this month, according to a statement from the local prosecutor on Wednesday. The man was shot and killed by an officer while trying to escape from a traffic stop. Investigations are still ongoing.
Clashes first broke out on Tuesday night in and around the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where Nahil was killed, and the government deployed 2,000 police to maintain order on Wednesday. But the violence resumed after dusk.
Nael’s surname has not been revealed by the authorities or his family. In previous statements, the family’s lawyers spelled the name Nael.
Police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and put out several fires overnight that damaged schools, police stations, municipalities or other public buildings, according to a national police spokesperson. On Thursday, the national police 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.
The spokesman said police had arrested 150 people across the country, more than half of them in the Paris region. She was not authorized to make her name public as per police rules.
The number of injured was not immediately released.
Scenes of violence reverberated in the suburbs of France in 2005, when the deaths of 15-year-old Bona Traoré and 17-year-old Zed Bina led to three weeks of rioting across the country, exposing anger and resentment at neglected, crime-ridden suburban housing projects. .
The boys entered an electricity substation to hide from the police in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, and were electrocuted.
French president Emmanuel Macron An emergency security meeting was held Thursday about the violence.
“These actions are totally unjustified, so that complete peace can be restored,” Macron said at the start of the meeting, which aims to secure hotspots and plan for the coming days.
Macron also said it was time for “remembrance and respect” as Nael’s mother called for a silent march on Thursday in his honor in the square where he was killed.
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.
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.
Macron called the killing “inexplicable and unforgivable” and called for calm, telling reporters in Marseille on Wednesday that “nothing justifies the death of a young man”.
Videos of the shooting shared online show two police officers leaning into the driver-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 the driver 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.”
The 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, prompting 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.
The latest available government statistics show 17 people were killed after being shot by police and gendarmes in 2021.
Asked about police abuses, Macron said justice must be allowed to take its course.
The Nahl 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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