Cars catch fire during protests in Nanterre, west of Paris, on June 28, 2023, a day after the murder of a 17-year-old boy in Nanterre by a police shot after refusing to comply .
Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt | afp | beautiful pictures
Protesters set off fireworks at police and set cars on fire in the working-class Paris suburb of Nanterre on Wednesday, in a second night of unrest following the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy while stopping. traffic there.
The use of deadly force by officers against the teenager, who is of North African descent, is ingrained in perceptions of police brutality in the multi-ethnic suburbs of France’s largest cities. .
Just before midnight, an overturned convoy caught fire as fireworks hit police lines on Nanterre’s Pablo Picasso Boulevard.
Police clashed with protesters in the northern city of Lille and in the southwest of Toulouse and there was also unrest in Amiens, Dijon and the Essonne administration south of the French capital, a police spokesman said. close said.
French media reported incidents in various other locations throughout the greater Paris area. Videos on social media showed dozens of fireworks being fired at the town hall of Montreuil, on the eastern edge of Paris.
Earlier, President Emmanuel Macron called the shooting “unexplainable and inexcusable”.
A police officer is being investigated for attempted murder for shooting a young man. Prosecutors say he failed to comply with his stop order.
The Interior Ministry appealed for calm and said 2,000 police had been mobilized in the Paris area.
Rights groups allege systemic racism in law enforcement agencies in France, an allegation Macron has previously denied.
A video shared on social media, verified by Reuters, shows two police officers beside the vehicle, a Mercedes AMG, with one shooting at the driver at close range as the vehicle sped. Go. He died soon after from his injuries, the local prosecutor said.
“You have a very clear video: a police officer killed a 17-year-old young man. You can see that the shooting was not regulated,” said Yassine Bouzrou, the family’s lawyer.
Lawmakers held a minute of silence in Parliament, where Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the shooting “clearly did not follow the rules.”
The family has filed a legal complaint against the officers for murder, complicity in the murder and false testimony, the attorney said.
In a video shared on TikTok, a woman identified as the victim’s mother called for a memorial march in Nanterre on Thursday. “Everyone come, we will lead an uprising for my son,” she said.
unusually frank
A spokesman for the national police said Tuesday’s killing was the third fatal shooting while stopping traffic in France until 2023, down from a record 13 last year.
According to a Reuters tally, there are three such homicides in 2021 and two in 2020, suggesting that the majority of victims since 2017 have been Black or Arab.
France’s human rights ombudsman has opened an investigation into the deaths, the sixth such inquiry into similar incidents in 2022 and 2023.
Mr Macron’s comments are unusually outspoken in a country where senior politicians often don’t criticize the police over concerns about voters’ security.
Two leading police unions have responded, saying the detained police officer should be presumed innocent until the contrary is found.
He has faced criticism from opponents, who accuse him of being soft on drug dealers and petty criminals, and implementing policies aimed at curbing urban crime. , including giving the police greater authority to issue fines.
Before violence broke out on Monday night, some in Nanterre had expressed hope that the unrest would end quickly.
“Rebellion like we did yesterday won’t change everything, we need discussion and dialogue,” said local resident Fatima.
