In Nanterre and other nearby suburbs, violent clashes erupted last night over the death of 17-year-old Naël. 24 officers were injured and more than thirty arrests were made. In the morning Naël was behind the wheel of a car that was stopped by two motorcycle policemen for a traffic check. Naël accelerated and drove off fast. One of the two officers then fired at the car, killing the young driver.
Footage of the incident has been circulated on social media. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin called them shocking and has urged calm. Many others were also shocked, including politicians and footballer Kylian Mbappé. He calls the incident unacceptable. There is also a lot of support for the agents on social media and in politics. According to the police chief, these are experienced officers without problems in their files.
Macron pointed out that justice must be done and everyone must remain calm. He said that “there is no excuse for this, nothing justifies the death of someone young”.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne emphasizes that everything is being done to find out exactly what happened. “The shocking images show a behavior that clearly does not comply with the rules of intervention for our security forces.”
In 2017, the rules for the use of firearms by agents in France were amended. According to some media, they have become less clear as a result. In principle, an officer may open fire if someone in a car does not obey an order to stop, and if there is no other way to stop the car. But the driver should, in the opinion of the officer, also pose a danger to himself or others by continuing to drive before firing can take place.
Fear of new riots
The authorities fear new riots for next night. Two thousand policemen are standing by. They were mainly sent to the Hauts-de-Seine department, of which Nanterre is the capital.
Naël’s mother has called for a silent march on Thursday afternoon. “It’s a revolt for my son,” she says in a video on TikTok. The family has now sued the officer and the police.
