A 17-year-old boy was shot dead Tuesday in the French city of Nanterre, on the outskirts of Paris, for disobeying police orders. The case sparked violent protests that led to the arrest of 24 people early Wednesday morning.
The French authorities allege that the young man was driving without documents and tried to run over the agents. However, a video circulating on social networks shows two policemen stopping the car and one of them pointing a gun at the boy, shooting when the vehicle starts.
The emergency services tried to revive the young man at the scene, but he did not survive.
The incident sparked chaos on French streets, with cars and rubbish bins set on fire and bus shelters destroyed.
The chief of the Paris police, Laurent Núñez, explained this Wednesday to the CNews channel that the protesters set fire to 42 vehicles, in addition to machines used in construction, and that the 350 police officers deployed during the night prevented robberies in stores and other buildings.
The Public Ministry opened two investigations, one of them for intentional homicide, the second for the escape of the victim. This decision provoked the indignation of the young man’s family because, as the lawyer Jennifer Cambla who handled the case stated, “in France you cannot judge a dead person.”
In addition, he insisted that the police reaction was “absolutely illegitimate” and that “it does not fall within the framework of legitimate defense” because “feeling threatened is not enough to shoot yourself in the chest.”
This incident generated a political reaction, especially from some leftist leaders, who denounced the large number of deaths at the hands of police elements, who resort to legitimate defense, especially when the driver flees from a checkpoint.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin described the images as “shocking” and called for respect for “the pain of the family and the presumption of innocence of the police”, quoted by AFP.
À la suite de la mort ce matin, à Nanterre, d”un jeune conducteur contrôlé par deux policemen, l”IGPN a été saisie pour faire toute la lumière sur les circonstances de ce drama.
– Gerald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) June 27, 2023
France star Kylian Mbappé also reacted, writing in a message on his Twitter account: “France hurts me. An unacceptable situation. I am with the family and relatives of Naël, this little angel who left too soon.”
I’m bad for my France.
Unacceptable situation.
Tout mes pensées vont pour la famille et les proches de Naël, ce petit ange parti beaucoup troptót.– Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappé) June 28, 2023
Source: TSF
