An exclusive testimony in the case of the refusal to comply Saturday June 4, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Inès, the rear passenger of the car targeted by police fire, delivers her story, Wednesday June 8, to franceinfo. “I’m angry because the police could have done something else,” confides this 21-year-old young woman, studying to become a beautician. Her friend Rayana, a front passenger in the vehicle, was killed by at least one bullet to the head. She was 21 years old. The 38-year-old driver suffered serious chest injuries. The two young women did not know the driver and his friend. They had met a few moments earlier at a party in the Pigalle district in Paris.
>> Paris: what we know about the death of a passenger in a car, shot and killed by police denouncing a refusal to comply
If the three police officers, heard for 48 hours in police custody, emerged free, a judicial investigation was nevertheless opened against them on Tuesday.
franceinfo: Can you tell us what happened on Saturday?
Ines: I was with my friend Rayana, a very close friend. We decided to go out around 6 am in the “after” on Pigalle. We were with friends who came back a little before us, so we stayed with their friends. We didn’t have enough cash to go home. They offered to drive us home. We put Rayana’s address first in the GPS. At Clignancourt, three police officers on bicycles knocked on the driver’s window because he was not wearing his seat belt. He didn’t want to roll down his window. He accelerated and stopped 30, 40 meters away because of traffic. There was a bus in front of us.
When we tell him to stop, he replies that he does not have the permit. He’s a little panicked, a little stressed and I see two policemen stepping up to the windows in front. Everything happened really fast. I didn’t even hear “Get out of the car” or “Hands up”. They broke the windows by hitting with their weapons. The scene was very violent. The driver didn’t even have time to take his hands off the wheel.
“We heard gunshots, the car driving off. It all happened at the same time. The car didn’t leave first and then they fired, it was all at the same time.”
They must have fired about ten shots, it took a long time.
What happened next ?
Then the driver sped forward this time, he drove into a white van, which brought him to a stop. We told him “Abandon the car, leave us, it’s between you and them, we are victims”. We told him “You really have to leave us”. He ran away. I thought my friend Rayana, who was in the seat in front of me, had passed out. I tried to call her several times by shouting her name out loud. His body was loose. That’s when I saw his neck filled with blood. I didn’t even have time to fully realize and take her in my arms. The police came behind us. They pointed at us saying “Hands up, hands over head”, which is what they should have said the first time to give us a chance maybe to get out. They could have tried to protect us and arrest the driver. They made us get out of the car.
“We were in shock, we were screaming. That’s when I realized Rayana had taken a bullet. The police weren’t even really cooperative with us, not asking if we were okay.”
They handcuffed us. They left us on a corner of the stage, more than three hours in full sun, in front of the crowd. We were not allowed to see a doctor.
What feelings do you experience?
I am angry because the police could have done something else. The person is at fault, but they didn’t have to shoot directly. Shooting someone, especially shooting them in the head, is a last resort. There were traffic jams, the vehicle couldn’t go far. The driver is in the wrong, he is completely in the wrong, but when he chased, he didn’t kill anyone. No one on the street was injured or knocked down. I lost a friend in front of me. It is also sad for his family, his friends. Now we will fight for justice.
Many political leaders have taken up this issue. Is it important to you? Was it necessary?
It’s good that this case takes a political turn. This story, we have to talk about it. The most important thing is that there are people on our side who understand that we didn’t have to come to this. It shows that we are supported. Me, I didn’t know the driver, but I think it can happen to everyone to have a stroke of stress.
“If we put a bullet in the head to all the people who refuse to comply, I think we would kill a lot of people every year.”
It was 10:30 in the middle of Paris. There were other people in the street, especially children. A child, a mother, anyone could have taken a stray bullet. The police didn’t think of that. They just couldn’t keep a cool head. They have lost control. When you wear a badge, you are supposed to keep a cool head as much as possible.
What do you think of the fact that the police came out free from police custody?
When I learned that the police were released from their custody, I was quite nervous all the same. Now I can understand that this whole thing will play out later. A judge will decide. For now, the police are out, that’s how it is. We can not do otherwise. There will be an investigation that will be done. We do not have a choice. We can’t do justice ourselves. We can’t go and denigrate people, it will be settled in court. We are here for Rayana and it is for her that we are fighting. He was a good person. She was only 21 years old. She had a family. She was beautiful. He was someone who always smiled. He is a victim in history. She didn’t deserve all of this.
With the family and friends of Rayana the young girl killed, Inès created an Instagram account called @justicepourrayana in the hope of uniting support for their cause.
FRANCEINFO DOCUMENT. The testimony of Inès, survivor of the car targeted by police fire, at the microphone of Mathilde Lemaire
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