Angry protests continue in France after the killing of a teenager by the police

Garbage containers were set on fire and fireworks were launched in the suburb of Nanterre, west of Paris A teenager was killed by the French policein addition to other neighborhoods in the Au-de-Seine region, west of Paris, and in the eastern city of Dijon

Riots erupted for the second night in a row in France, in response to the killing of a young man by a policeman at a traffic checkpoint, while thousands of security personnel were deployed to prevent the expansion of violent protests.

About 2,000 riot police were called to the suburbs surrounding Paris in the aftermath The killing of the young man, Nael M. The 17-year-old was shot in the chest by a policeman From close range Tuesday morning.

Clashes and fires

The incident caused confrontations between the police and demonstrators who set arson on the outskirts of Paris on Tuesday night, as the Interior Ministry announced the arrest of 31 people, the injury of 24 policemen, and the burning of about 40 cars.

On Wednesday night, garbage containers continued to be set on fire and fireworks were fired in the suburb of Nanterre, west of Paris, where the young man was killed, in addition to other neighborhoods in the Au-du-Seine region, west of Paris, and in the eastern city of Dijon.

Police said a group of people set fire to a bus after all its passengers got off in the suburb of Esson, south of the capital.

In the southern city of Toulouse, several cars were set on fire and petrol bombs were thrown at police and firefighters as thick black smoke billowed into the sky.

And the police announced just before midnight that they had arrested about 16 people across the country.

The case sparked criticism from different social strata. MPs and ministers observed a minute of silence in the National Assembly to pay tribute to the victim, who was identified only by his name and last initial.

President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “affected” by the killing of the young man, according to government spokesman Olivier Veran, who called for “calm”.

The government usually seeks to avoid the outbreak of riots in the suburbs of Paris, after it caused the death of teenagers in recent years, who often came from immigrant families from the Maghreb or Africa.

A shooting ignited street anger

The killing of Nael took place on Tuesday morning, behind the La Défense neighborhood near Paris, when he did not comply with a checkpoint and tried to bypass it.

Police sources confirmed at first that the young man drove his car towards two policemen on two motorcycles to try to run them over.

But a video clip circulating on social media showed two policemen trying to stop the car, before one of them shot through the window at the driver as he tried to drive away.

A person was heard saying, “You will receive a bullet in the head,” without revealing his identity.

The car later crashed into a side wall after traveling a short distance forward.

Ambulance services at the scene attempted to resuscitate the driver, who was hit in the rib cage, but died shortly thereafter.
The Nanterre prosecutor’s office said the 38-year-old officer accused of shooting the driver had been arrested on charges of murder.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Nanterre indicated that the detainee was interrogated as part of a premeditated murder investigation, confirming the extension of his pre-trial detention pending investigation.
Interior Minister Gerard Darmanan stressed that the authorities “will take administrative decisions to suspend duties if the charges against him are proven.”

“Revolution for my son”

And Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne considered that the “shocking images” of the shooting of the young man “show an interference that is clearly not compatible with the rules of intervention for law enforcement forces,” stressing “the absolute necessity to find the truth in order to put calm over anger.”

For his part, Macron considered the killing of the young man “inexplicable … and unjustified.” However, the president’s remarks were criticized.
One of the most prominent police unions considered these situations “unimaginable”.

And the leader of the far-right National Assembly, Marine Le Pen, considered that the statements issued by the French president were “exaggerated” and “irresponsible.”

For his part, the captain of the French national football team and Paris Saint-Germain player Kylian Mbappe wrote on Twitter, “France hurts me. An unacceptable situation. All my thoughts go to the relatives and family of Nael, this little angel who left so early.”

The teenager’s mother called for a march in honor of her son Thursday afternoon in Nanterre, saying in a video posted on TikTok, “It’s a revolution for my son.”

The circumstances of the young man’s death sparked anger in Nanterre (west of Paris), where he was staying, and where clashes broke out between residents and security forces on Tuesday evening.

The riots spread on Wednesday night to other areas in the suburbs of Paris. A building attached to the commune of Mantes-la-Jolie in the neighboring department of Yvelines was set on fire.

These events recalled a series of violent acts in the Parisian suburbs.

In 2005, the electrocuted deaths of two teenagers in Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris, while being pursued by police sparked riots that lasted three weeks and prompted the government to declare a state of emergency.

Nael’s death sparked denunciations from left-wing politicians who criticized what they described as the “Americanization of the police,” referring to incidents in the United States that ended with police killing people they were seeking to arrest.

“Part of the police lied to try to cover up this act,” said Radical Left deputy Manuel Bombar.

For their part, representatives of the far-right National Assembly spoke of a “tragedy”, calling for respect for the “interrogation period” in addition to the “presumption of innocence”.