In a tragic incident that has sparked widespread anger, a French police officer who fatally shot 17-year-old Nahel M., a teenager of North African descent, during a routine traffic stop in Nanterre, Paris, has been placed under formal investigation for voluntary homicide. The shooting has unleashed two consecutive nights of riots across France, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to call for a crisis meeting with senior ministers to address the escalating public anger.
As tensions rise, security forces have been deployed in large numbers to quell the protests that have erupted nationwide. While President Macron has condemned the violent demonstrations and urged for calm, he has also acknowledged the inexcusability of the killing, reigniting the debate on police tactics and the treatment of people in low-income suburbs, particularly ethnic minorities.
Initial police reports claimed that the officer had fired at Nahel because the teenager was driving his car towards him. However, a video circulating on social media contradicted this version of events, showing the two police officers standing by the stationary car, with one officer aiming a weapon at the driver. A voice can be heard threatening, “You are going to get a bullet in the head,” just before the officer appears to fire as the car abruptly drives away. The 38-year-old policeman responsible for the lethal shot has been taken into custody.
Civil rights activist Yasser Louati highlighted the immediate dissemination of the police’s narrative by mainstream media and emphasized the importance of the video footage that emerged, exposing the discrepancy between the official account and reality.
The riots have evoked memories of the 2005 protests triggered by the deaths of two Black boys during a police chase. French authorities are haunted by the prospect of a repeat of those events, which resulted in widespread arson and arrests.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin deplored the “night of unbearable violence against symbols of the Republic” following the riots, noting that numerous arrests had been made as town halls, schools, and police stations were attacked and set ablaze. Cars and bins were torched, and clashes between protesters and riot police intensified.
Amidst the chaos, Nahel’s grieving mother took to TikTok to call for a tribute march in honor of her son, urging everyone to join and express their solidarity. Their lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, announced plans to file an additional complaint for false testimony regarding the allegation that Nahel had attempted to run over the police officer.
