French President Emmanuel Macron ruled on Wednesday “inexplicable” and “inexcusable” the death of a 17-year-old boy killed by a police officer at point-blank range the day before near Paris, wishing “for justice to pass”.
“Nothing, nothing justifies the death of a young person”, affirmed the Head of State, evoking “the emotion of the whole nation” and testifying to his “respect and [de son] affection” to the family of the victim.
“We have a teenager who was killed, it is inexplicable, inexcusable and first of all these are words of affection, shared pain and support for his family and loved ones,” Emmanuel Macron told the press. .
17-year-old Naël M. was killed after refusing to comply during a traffic check in Nanterre, west of the capital. The officer who fired the shot is in custody.
According to the Head of State, the police are made up of “women and men who also come from all parts of the Republic and are committed to protecting us and serving the Republic”.
“I thank them every day for that”, he added, recalling that their functions were exercised “within an ethical framework which is defined, which must be respected”.
“Justice was immediately seized: I hope that it does its job with obviously speed and in the calm that this work requires, and that the truth can be done as soon as possible”, added the president, while the drama led to urban violence in Nanterre the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
“There needs to be calm everywhere because we don’t need to have a conflagration, a situation that would deteriorate,” he explained.
Beyond that, he wanted to continue to “move forward” to “address everyday issues”, citing “school”, “sport”, “security” and “urban rehabilitation”. “As the summer comes […]we have a lot of families, a lot of young people who live in very difficult situations, these are families who do not go on vacation, ”recalled the head of state.
“Obviously tempers can get hot,” he acknowledged, but “I don’t want there to be any manipulation.”