The popular suburbs of French cities are a social powder keg that is always in danger of exploding. It happened again, on Tuesday night, in Nanterre and other satellite towns of Paris, shaken by an eruption of violence after the death, hours earlier, by a police shot, of Naël, a young man from 17 years old who was driving a vehicle and tried to escape from a checkpoint. The Ministry of the Interior mobilized two thousand agents yesterday to contain possible riots in the most sensitive places.
There were multiple reactions of indignation at what had happened, especially because the fatal episode was recorded on video, and the images, disseminated by the media and social networks. The events took place on Tuesday morning near the RER suburban metro station in Nanterre, on the western outskirts of the capital. A pair of police officers on motorbikes stopped a yellow Mercedes, which had apparently been rented by another person who was driving in the bus lane. The driver stopped and, after a brief exchange with the officers, violently sped off again. In the video you can see and hear how one of the policemen fires the gun. The young man received a bullet in the chest and they could no longer revive him.
The police officer involved was arrested and was still being questioned yesterday. Abdelmadjid Benamara, lawyer for the victim’s family, told the BFM-TV channel that it was a premeditated and unnecessary death, that the agent was not in front of the vehicle, as the first police version claimed, but in the by the window, and his life was not in danger, therefore the shot was not justified.
Most police unions reacted cautiously, aware of the seriousness of the incident, which can have a very negative impact on an already problematic public image of the police in some sectors. But a minority union, France Police, posted a message on social media, later removed, which caused a scandal. “Bravo for the colleagues who opened fire on a 17-year-old criminal,” the text said. By neutralizing the vehicle, they protected their lives and those of other road users. The only ones responsible for the death of this criminal are his parents, unable to educate their son”. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, considered the message “abject” and announced that he would take the case to court and that he would study whether the small union can be dissolved.
In addition to Nanterre, there was burning of vehicles and urban furniture in other localities in the Paris region such as Mantes-la-Jolie, Suresnes, Colombes and Clichy-sous-Bois. In Nanterre, a City Council building burned down. In total there were around thirty people arrested, 48 vehicles and more than 300 rubbish containers burnt.
The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who was visiting Marseille for three days – precisely to address the serious problem of security and mafia crime in the second city of France -, showed his dismay and solidarity with the family in front of an “inexplicable” and inexcusable fact, as well as “the emotion of the whole nation”. “I want the truth to come out,” he said. “Calm is needed for justice to be done.”
The Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, stated that “wearing the uniform is responding to a duty to set an example”. According to the head of the Government, “the intervention (of the police) was clearly not in accordance with the rules”. “The images suggest that the framework of a legal intervention was not respected”, he added. The National Assembly observed a minute of silence for the boy’s death. From the Chamber, the former presidential candidate of the extreme right, Marine Le Pen, was saddened by the boy’s death, but criticized Macron for having rushed into the assessment and having thus interfered in the work of justice
Among the reactions of public figures, the actor Omar Sy stood out, who asked for “justice worthy of his name in honor of the memory of this child”. The footballer Jules Koundé described what had happened as “dramatic”, condemned police brutality and admitted that “my France hurts me”. “All my thoughts go out to the family and loved ones of this little angel who left too soon,” tweeted Kylian Mbappé, the star of PSG and captain of the French national team.
Naël’s mother, who lived alone with him, launched a video message calling for a “white march” (demonstration) and a “revolt for my son” in front of the prefecture of Nanterre, today, at two o’clock noon
