There were more than 600 arrests during a new night of protests in France

“Nothing justifies the death of a young person,” France’s mayor told a crowd at a rallying park after the shooting of George Floyd

There are more deaths caused by police in France than there are in the US, as a result of which calls for more accountability in recent years. France also saw protests against racial profiling and other injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota.

“The shocking images broadcast yesterday show an intervention that appears clearly not to comply with the rules of engagement of the police forces,” Borne said while speaking to Parliament.

There was footage from several vantage points showing that despite initial reports of police officers being in danger, the pair stood next to the driver’s window with one pointing a gun inside as the car moved past them.

Macron called the killing “inexplicable and inexcusable” and called for calm. “Nothing justifies the death of a young person,” he told reporters in Marseille on Wednesday.

Tensions between police and young people in housing projects and other deprived neighborhoods were sparked by the shooting that was caught on video.

A police officer was taken into custody after the shooting — and on Thursday, prosecutor Pascal Prache announced a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide against the officer, saying that a review found the legal standard for the officer to use his gun had not been met when he fired at Nahel from close range.

Some marches and demonstrations have been free from violence. But often, protesters and police have clashed. Protesters have used fireworks and stones to attack police. The mayor said that people in the Aillaud Towers complex were forced to leave because of the amount of tear gas deployed by the officers.

Nanterre, France, a place of peace and remembrance: police arrests during a demonstration of solidarity with the mother of Nahel

The mother of Nahel called for a silent march to honor him on Thursday in the square where he was killed, and that’s when Macron said it was time for remembrance and respect.

“These acts are completely unjustifiable, and so we have to plan and secure hot spots so that peace will return,” he said at the beginning of the meeting.

About half of the people arrested in the Paris region are from out of town. Police rules did not permit her to be publicly named.

Clashes first erupted Tuesday night in and around the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where Nahel was killed, and the government deployed 2,000 police to maintain order Wednesday. But violence resumed after dusk.

France plays a major role in European policy and the President was planning to leave the EU summit to attend an emergency security meeting in Paris.

The national police spokesmen said that around 200 police officers were injured. No information was available about injuries among the rest of the population.

The schools, town halls and police stations were targets by people who set fires, and the police used tear gas, water cannons and dispersion grenades against rioters.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Friday denounced what he called a night of “rare violence.” His office described the arrests as an increase in previous operations, which is part of a government effort to be “EXTREMELY firm” with rioters.

More-than-600 arrests after a new night of protests across France over teens-kilcules: the Nanterre officer charged with homicide

The state of emergency that the government was supposed to declare following the deaths of two boys fleeing police in 2005 has not been declared.

The police officer accused of shooting and killing a man Tuesday was charged with voluntary homicide, after the prosecutor said the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met. Preliminary charges mean investigating magistrates strongly suspect wrongdoing but need to investigate more before sending a case to trial.

The lawyer for the police officer, who is in jail, said on BFMTV that the officer was “sorry and devastated.” The officer did what he thought was necessary in the moment, attorney Laurent-Franck Lienard told the news outlet.

The officer doesn’t get up in the morning to kill people, as per France’s practice in criminal cases. “He really didn’t want to kill.”

“We have to go further saying that things need to calm down,” Sopo said. “The issue here is how do we make it so that we have a police force that when they see Blacks and Arabs, don’t tend to shout at them, use racist terms against them and in some cases, shoot them in the head.”

In Nanterre, a peaceful march Thursday afternoon in honor of Nahel was followed by escalating confrontations, with smoke billowing from cars and garbage bins set ablaze.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/30/1185268439/more-than-600-arrests-after-a-new-night-of-protests-across-france-over-teens-kil

Resurrecting racism: a case study in the three deaths of a French boy killed in a fight related to the 2005 Algerian shooting

The town of Clamart, home to over 50,000 people in the southwest suburbs, imposed a curfew because of the possibility of public unrest. A similar curfew was announced in the town of Neuilly-sur-Marne in the eastern suburbs.

The unrest extended as far as the Belgian capital city and the EU administrative hub where a few people were arrested during a fight related to theFrance shooting. Several fires were brought under control according to the police spokeswoman.

Prache, the Nanterre prosecutor, said officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish license plates in a bus lane. He got stuck in traffic because he ran a red light to avoid being stopped.

The scenes in France’s suburbs echoed 2005, when the deaths of 15-year-old Bouna Traoré and 17-year-old Zyed Benna led to three weeks of riots, exposing anger and resentment in neglected housing projects. The boys were electrocuted after hiding from police in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois.

A police spokesperson said 13 people who didn’t comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by police last year. Nahel was one of the three people who died in similar circumstances this year.

Citing France’s history of colonial and racist behavior toward Arabs and Black people, Fleming added, “So it really matters that this boy who was killed was North African — French North African.”

“The reality is that it’s not inexplicable. The author of Resurrecting Slavery: Racial Legacies and White Supremacy in France said racism was not rocket science.

The France Teen Shooting Protests Nahel’s Auto: A Case Study in a Case of An Assault by a Miami-based Police Officer

Critics say that Macron and other leaders are showing sympathy — but not an intent to examine whether the problems that led to Nahel’s death run deeper than a single officer’s actions.

Similar to the Floyd case in the U.S., videos of Nahel’s encounter with the police have caused a lot of public anger and distrust, due to the fact that witnesses and video contradict the official narrative.

A voice is heard saying that you will get a bullet in the head. As the car moves forward, a single shot is heard. Nahel died at the scene of the wreck, his car came to a halt after hitting the pole.

One of the people in the car with Nahel has spoken to police but the other fled the scene and is being sought by law enforcement, Jarry said.

The two officers were riding their motorcycles when they attempted to stop the car that they had seen speed through the bus lanes. The prosecutor said the driver of the car didn’t stop until he was cut off.

The officer who acknowledged firing his gun said that he did so because he wanted to stop the vehicle and because he didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.

But after hearing conflicting versions of events about deadly violence, Green party leader Marine Tondelier was quoted saying, “You get the feeling that our police is becoming like America’s.”

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/30/1185394143/france-teen-police-shooting-protests-nahel

Justice pour Nahel: A rally for justice for families in the midst of protests around the tragic death of a 14-year-old boy

The chant heard repeatedly is, “Justice pour Nahel,” but while the protest center around the teenager’s tragic death, demonstrators’ demands go further.

Along with a pledge to hold the police accountable, authorities expressed their support for Nahel’s family this week. But as protests intensified, leaders have increasingly focused on trying to control the crowds and prevent damage, deploying tens of thousands of police.

The minister thanked the police for their restraint, showing the public’s support.

Jarry and others pleaded with protesters not to damage the buildings used by residents. Two schools and a leisure center have been damaged or destroyed, he said.