Jul 02, 2023 at 8:51 PMUpdate: an hour ago
The grandmother of 17-year-old Nahel, who was shot dead by French police on Tuesday, calls for calm. She wants an end to the riots that have been going on in the country for five nights now.
“I say to the rioters: stop,” grandmother Nadia said on the French TV channel on Sunday BFM TV. “They should not break windows or damage schools and buses. Because it is the mothers who take the bus.”
The teenager of Algerian descent was shot dead by a police officer in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday when he tried to drive away from a traffic control. Since Tuesday, there have been violent riots in several French cities.
The riots mainly take place at night by young rioters. They accuse the police of racism. Hundreds of people have now been arrested. The average age of those detained is 17, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Friday.
‘Understanding for anger, but riots must stop’
Grandmother Nadia understands the anger of the protesters, but would like the riots to stop. “Nahel is dead. My daughter had only one child. Now she has no life. That’s how they made me lose my daughter and my grandson.”
A fundraising campaign has been set up for the 38-year-old officer who shot Nahel. He is being prosecuted by the judiciary. Nadia said she was “shocked” by the action set up online. Up to Sunday afternoon, 545,000 euros have already been collected.
French President Emmanuel Macron had planned a state visit to Germany this weekend, but he canceled it because of the unrest in his country.
45,000 police officers and gendarmes have been mobilized to quell any riots in the night from Sunday to Monday, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin reports.
2023-07-02 18:51:03
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