France’s President Emmanuel Macron has described the death of a 17-year-old shot by police during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb as “inexplicable and inexcusable” – saying “nothing justifies” a young person being killed.
The remarks come in the wake of unrest and protests overnight into Wednesday, mainly in the Paris suburb of Nanterre where the victim – named as Nahel by lawyers representing his family – lived. Cars were burned and some protesters threw fireworks at the police, who sprayed people with tear gas.
Mr Macron’s remarks were unusally frank, with politicians in the country usually reticent to speak out too harshly against law enforcement given what an important issue policing and security is for voters. “We have an adolescent that was killed, it is unexplainable and inexcusable,” Mr Macron told reporters in Marseille. “Nothing justifies the death of a young man.” The president also called for calm and said the judiciary would do its work.
In a Twitter post, Mr Macron repeated the message, saying he shared the pain of Nahel’s family while also urging “calm and respect”. Appearing to soften his language towards the police somewhat, he expressed gratitude to the forces of law and order who “protect us”.
A police officer is being investigated for voluntary homicide over the shooting. Prosecutors say the teenager failed to comply with an order to stop his car early on Monday.
Videos purported to show the incident were “extremely shocking,” the interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, said, pledging a full investigation. The images show two police officers leaning into the driver-side window of a yellow car, before the vehicle pulls away as one officer fires into the window. The car is then seen having crashed into a post nearby.
The victim was wounded by a gunshot and died at the scene, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. It is believed he was hit in the chest. One passenger in the car was briefly detained and released, and police are searching for another passenger who fled.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told BFMTV that “this act raises questions for me” and that the justice system would decide whether or not it was appropriate.
The two officers who carried out the traffic stop were aged between 38 and 40 and were experienced, Mr Darmanin said.
“You have a video that is very clear: a police officer killed a young man of 17 years. We can see that the shooting is not within the rules,” said Yassine Bouzrou, one of the lawyers for the family. The family has filed a legal complaint against the officers for homicide, complicity in homicide and allegations of false testimony, the lawyer said.
The lawyers refuted a reported initial statement by the police that their lives were in danger because the driver had threatened to run them over.
Mr Bouzrou told The Associated Press the family want the investigation handed to a different region because they fear Nanterre investigators won’t be impartial.
Mr Macron’s comments prompted an angry reaction from police unions, who accused him of rushing to judge the officers involved and added that they should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Mr Darmanin said he would be taking legal action against another group, France Police, after it published what he called an “unacceptable and abject” tweet about the killing.
The prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, said the police intervention “manifestly did not conform to the rules”.
Thirty-one people were arrested in the clashes overnight in which 40 cars were burned, mostly in Nanterre, Mr Darmanin said. Video footage showed at least one building on fire and burnt-out barricades on the road. Sporadic clashes broke out between youths and police. Some groups set alight barricades and rubbish bins, and smashed up a bus stop and threw firecrackers toward police, who responded with tear gas and dispersion grenades.
Mr Darmanin called for calm on BFMTV on Wednesday morning and said “justice must be done and the truth must be told”. Some 2,000 police have been mobilised in the region in the wake of Tuesday evening’s clashes.
The teenager’s mother posted a video on social media to call for a march in memory of her son in Nanterre on Thursday. She said the march would also be a statement of “revolt” over his death.
Local resident and anti-racism campaigner, Mornia Labssi, who said she had spoken to the victim’s family, confirmed his name was Nahel and that he was of Algerian origin.
The killing was the third fatal shooting during traffic stops in France so far in 2023, following a record 13 last year, a spokesperson for the national police said.
There were three such killings in 2021 and two in 2020, according to a Reuters tally, which shows the majority of victims since 2017 were Black or of Arab origin.
France’s human rights ombudsman has also opened an inquiry into the death.
The streets of Nanterre were calm on Wednesday afternmoon and Fatima, a resident, told Reuters she hoped there would be no more violence.
“To revolt like we did... won’t change things, we need to discuss and talk,” she said.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
