After Police Shoot 17-Year-Old, France Burns

Buildings burned in 'night of unbearable violence' as 150 are arrested
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 29, 2023 5:03 AM CDT
150 Arrested as Protests Shake France
Youths clash with police officers in Nanterre, outside Paris, Thursday, June 29, 2023.   (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Protests erupted in cities and towns across France and at least 150 people were arrested in the second night of unrest following the police shooting of a 17-year-old driver in a Paris suburb Tuesday. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin called it "a night of unbearable violence against the symbols of the republic: town halls, schools, police stations burned or attacked," the Guardian reports. In numerous clashes, protesters threw bottles and fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas. Nanterre, where the teen was shot, looks like a "war zone," with burned and overturned cars in the streets, a resident tells the BBC.

The teen, identified as Nahel M., was shot at a traffic stop by an officer whose claim that the teen was driving at him was contradicted by a video authenticated by French news agencies. In an update on the case Thursday, the Nanterre public prosecutor said the teen was driving erratically and was chased after refusing to stop for police and speeding past a red light, reports the BBC. The prosecutor said the officer's use of his weapon was not lawful and a homicide investigation has been opened against the officer, who is still in custody.

Nahel, a delivery driver, was reportedly from a family of Algerian origin. Graffiti sprayed on walls near one protest site in northeast Paris said "Justice for Nahel" and "Police kill," AFP reports. "We are sick of being treated like this. This is for Nahel, we are Nahel," two young men bringing garbage cans to a burning barricade said. French President Emmanuel Macron, who denounced the killing as "inexcusable" Wednesday, held an emergency security meeting Thursday. Some lawmakers are calling for him to declare France's first state of emergency since terrorist attacks in 2015. (More France stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X