Key Points
- On Tuesday, French police fatally shot 17-year-old Nahel during a traffic stop after the teen ran a red light.
- The police officer was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide after the deadly shooting.
- Thousands have marched and rioted all over France in response to the shooting, leading to clashes with police.
French President Emmanuel Macron, after rushing back from an EU summit to chair a crisis meeting, denounced the “unacceptable exploitation of a death of an adolescent” in some quarters.
A demonstrator runs on the third night of protests sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, France. Source: AAP / Aurelien Morissard/AP
He said social media is fuelling copycat violence, as well as becoming a place to organise it, and state agencies would ask platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok to remove the most “sensitive content”.
He also urged parents to take responsibility for underage rioters, one-third of whom were “young or very young”.
Why are people in France rioting
France has been rocked by successive nights of protests since Nahel was shot at point-blank range during a traffic stop captured on video.
Crowds of protesters march to demand justice for Nahel. Credit: SOPA Images/Sipa USA
A video, authenticated by AFP, showed two police officers standing by the side of the stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at the driver.
Nahel’s mother raises her fist as she attends a march in the memory of her 17-year-old son who was killed by French Police. Source: AAP, EPA / Yoan Valat
She said the 38-year-old officer responsible, who was detained and charged with voluntary manslaughter on Thursday, “saw an Arab face, a little kid, and wanted to take his life”.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told TF1 television that crack units from both the police and the paramilitary gendarme force were among the 45,000 officers deployed Friday.
“The human and material reinforcements that we are currently sending will give you (…) the means to defend the Republic and its values,” he added.
Protesters lob fireworks at police officers during a second night of rioting in Nanterre following the death of a 17-year-old at a roadside check. Source: AAP, ABACA, Press Association / Poitout Florian/Alamy
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne also announced the cancellations of large-scale events — such as concerts — across the country.
Prosecutors in Marseille opened an investigation into attempted murder after two police officers in civilian clothes were attacked by a gang of 20 people in the southern city overnight.
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