The shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M has led to riots and clashes with police (Pictures: AFP/Rex)
France has faced a second night of violent riots, after a teenage boy was shot dead by police during a traffic stop.
Demonstrations were centred around Paris, near where the 17-year-old named only as Nael M was killed.
On June 27, the French government said it was set to deploy 2,000 riot police that night ahead of an expected escalation – but significant damage was still caused to buildings and vehicles.
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There is a lot of context behind the current unrest and new information keeps emerging, which can make it difficult to follow.
So here is everything we know about the shooting of 17-year-old Nael M so far.
The boy was shot to death after being pulled over in a traffic stop in the town of Nanterre, just west of Paris, on Tuesday, June 27.
A reported statement from the French police said Nael M had threatened to run them over but a team of three lawyers for the family rejected that, citing a video of the incident that was spread widely.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said the action of the officer ‘raises questions’.
Nael M, 17, was shot in his hometown of Nanterre, just west of Paris(Picture: Peter Allen)
Multiple cars and rubbish bins have been set alight during the unrest (Picture: Getty)
A video then started circulating on social media showing the officer pointing a gun at the driver of a car, the driver appears to pull off before a gunshot is heard and the car crashes to a stop. It has since been verified by AFP news agency.
AFP news agency reports that a person in the video can be heard saying: ‘You’re going to be shot in the head’. But it is unclear who says it.
Emergency services were called but the teenager ended up dying of bullet wounds to the chest.
The officer, who has reportedly said he felt his life was in danger, has been arrested on charges of voluntary manslaughter.
One of the lawyers representing Nael M’s family, Yassine Bouzrou, said the clip ‘clearly showed a policeman killing a young man in cold blood,’ adding: ‘This is a long way from any kind of legitimate defence.’
Protesters flooded Nanterre on Tuesday night, with cars and rubbish bins set alight, bus shelters destroyed and fireworks set off near a police station.
Riot police used shields and tear gas to try and control the crowds and the clashes have left at least 24 officers injured and 31 arrested.
This is the second fatal shooting by French police at traffic stops this year. Last year, there were a record 13 deaths during police traffic stops in France, after three in 2021 and two in 2020.
Firefighters extinguish a burning vehicle destroyed by protesters in Nanterre (Picture: Getty)
Riot police were deployed to try and get protesters under control (Picture: Shutterstock)
A Reuters analysis of such shootings over the past two years found the majority of victims were Black or of Arabic origin, like Nael M.
More details emerged yesterday about who Nael M was and what his life looked like.
French newspaper L’independent reported he was a pizza delivery boy in his hometown.
Nael’s family released a picture of the teenager with the caption ‘the love of my life’.
His grandmother, who spoke anonymously, said: ‘I will never forgive them.
My grandson died, they killed my grandson. We are not happy at all, I am against the government.
‘They killed my grandson, now I don’t care about anyone, they took my grandson from me, I will never forgive them in my life, never, never, never.’
He also played rugby for the Nanterre Pirates through the team’s partnership with the group Ovale Citoyen, which aims to promote social inclusion and fight discrimination using sport.
In an interview with Le Parisien, Ovale Citoyen president Jeff Puech said Nael was ‘someone who had the desire to fit in socially and professionally, not a kid who lived off the deal or took pleasure in petty crime’.
‘He was a kid who used rugby to get by,’ he added, saying the teenager had ‘an exemplary attitude, far from the disgusting comments that we can see on social networks’.
Nael’s devastated mother, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I lost a 17-year-old, I was alone with him, and they took my baby away from me. He was still a child, he needed his mother.’
French president Emmanuel Macron said ‘the whole nation’ is moved after the killing, which he described as ‘unexplainable and inexcusable’.
He went on to call for ‘calm for justice to be done’, adding: ‘Justice was immediately seized.
‘Our police and gendarmes are committed to protecting us and serving the Republic. I thank them every day for that. They do so within an ethical framework that must be respected.
‘It is up to justice to establish the truth and assign responsibility. I hope that his work can be completed quickly.
‘As such, what Nanterre and the nation need is respect and calm.’
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