Several suburbs of Paris lived a night of violence after the death, hours before, by a shot by the police, of Naël, a 17-year-old boy who was driving a vehicle and fled from a checkpoint. The Ministry of the Interior will mobilize two thousand agents this Wednesday to contain possible disturbances in the most sensitive places.
There were multiple reactions of indignation at what happened, especially since the fatal episode was recorded on video and the images released by the media and social networks. The events took place on Tuesday morning in Nanterre, on the western outskirts of the capital. A couple of police officers on motorcycles stopped a yellow Mercedes that was circulating in the bus lane. The driver stopped and, after a brief exchange with officers, sped off again. In the video you can see and hear how one of the policemen fires his weapon. The young man was hit in the chest and could not be revived.
The police officer involved is in custody and is being questioned. A lawyer for the victim’s family said on BFM-TV that it was a premeditated and unnecessary death, that the agent was not in front of the vehicle but to the side, by the window, and his life was not in danger.
In addition to Nanterre, there was burning of vehicles and street furniture in other towns in the Paris region such as Mantes-la-Jolie, Suresnes or Clichy-sous-Bois. In Nanterre, an annex to the Town Hall went up in flames. In total there were more than thirty detainees, according to the Paris police prefecture. A total of 48 vehicles were destroyed and more than 300 garbage containers burned.
The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who is visiting Marseille for three days, has shown this Wednesday his dismay and solidarity with the family of the deceased young man, as well as “the emotion of the entire nation”. “I want the truth to come to light,” said the head of state. “Calm is needed for justice to be done.”
Among the reactions of public figures, that of the actor Omar Sy stood out, who asked for “a justice worthy of his name in honor of the memory of this child.” Footballer Jules Koundé called what happened “dramatic”, condemned police brutality and admitted that “my France hurts”. “All my thoughts go out to the family and those close to this little angel who has left too soon,” Kylian Mbappé, the PSG star and captain of the French team, tweeted.
Naël’s mother, who lived alone with her son, sent a video message calling for a “white march” (demonstration) and a “riot” in front of the Nanterre prefecture, on Thursday, at two in the afternoon.
