• Sun. Apr 28th, 2024

France shooting: Violence Erupts Over Teen’s Death

march by the people, demanding justice for the teen. Photo by BBC

Violence has erupted across France since the killing of a 17-year-old during a traffic stop on Tuesday.

A French policeman has been charged with homicide and is now in custody over the killing of a teenager near Paris.

The 17-year-old, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range as he drove off and crashed soon afterwards.

Anger at his killing has sparked violence across the country.

A march led by the boy’s mother was marred by clashes on Thursday afternoon.

In a third night of unrest, 667 people were arrested, French officials say.

In Paris, shops were ransacked and cars set on fire overnight despite a heavy police presence.

Across France, 40,000 police officers were deployed, with 249 of them injured in Wednesday night’s clashes, according to the interior ministry.

Earlier, bus and tram services in Paris and the wider region stopped operating at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Thursday.

Night-time curfews were in place in some suburbs.

In the town of Nanterre, where the teenager was killed, a huge fire engulfed the ground floor of a building where a bank is located.

Officers were injured on Thursday afternoon as well, during violence in Nanterre that followed a largely peaceful march calling for justice.

It was attended by more than 6,000 people.

Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said she understood the outpouring of emotion following the 17-year-old’s death, but condemned the riots.

“Nothing justifies the violence that’s occurred,” she said.

The teenager’s death has sparked a wider conversation about the power of the police and the relationship between the authorities and people from France’s suburbs, who feel segregated from the country’s prosperous city centres.

BBC