Clashes continued overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday in Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris, after the death of a 17-year-old motorist killed due to a refusal to comply by a police officer, who was placed in jail.
The tragedy happened on Tuesday morning. Initially, police sources claimed that a vehicle drove into two police motorcyclists. But a video circulating on social networks, authenticated by AFP, showed that one of the two police officers held the driver at gunpoint, then that he fired at close range when the car restarted.
In the video, we hear “you’re going to get shot in the head”, without being able to attribute this sentence to anyone in particular.
The car ended its race a few tens of meters further, embedded in a post. The victim, Naël M., 17, died shortly after being hit in the chest.
The teenager’s death and its circumstances aroused emotion and anger in Nanterre, a popular city where he lived. In the early evening, tensions erupted between residents and police, AFP journalists noted.
Fifteen people were arrested, according to a report from the police headquarters around 1 a.m. local time. The prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department, of which Nanterre is the capital, reported “sporadic movements” in several districts.
If the police headquarters assured that the situation was “contained” shortly before midnight, tensions continued, spreading to other municipalities in the northern suburbs of the Paris region. The same source thus reported “very sporadic incidents” in the towns of Asnières, Colombes, Suresnes, Aubervilliers, Clichy-sous-Bois and Mantes-la-Jolie.
In Nanterre, fireworks mortars were fired near the prefecture. A fire broke out in a music school, on which the firefighters quickly intervened.
Fires were set along a railway track, several cars and garbage cans were set on fire and bus shelters were destroyed. Demonstrators erected some barricades. The security forces responded several times with tear gas.
Two open investigations
After the death of Naël M., an investigation was opened for refusal to comply and attempted intentional homicide of a person holding public authority. Another investigation, opened for intentional homicide by a person holding public authority, was entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police, the police force.
The 38-year-old policeman suspected of the fatal shooting was taken into custody.
The victim’s family lawyer, Mr.e Yassine Bouzrou, announced two complaints “in the coming days”. One will target the author of the shooting for intentional homicide, and his colleague for complicity.
A second complaint, for forgery in public writing, will be filed against the police, “who claimed that the young man had attempted to commit homicide on their person by trying to hit them, which is formally denied by the viewing of the video,” the lawyer announced.
Two other people were in the vehicle at the time of the events: a first passenger fled, and the second, also a minor, was arrested and placed in police custody then released at the beginning of the afternoon.
Tribute to Omar Sy
About forty people briefly gathered in the early afternoon near the scene of the tragedy, tears in their eyes, to share their “anger”.
“It’s so sad, he was so young. I saw him born,” sighed Samia Bough, 62, a former neighbor of the teenager, who came to lay a bouquet of yellow roses.
The victim was already known to the courts, in particular for refusing to comply.
The mayor of Nanterre, Patrick Jarry, said he was “shocked” by the video of the drama.
“The death penalty no longer exists in France. No policeman has the right to kill except in self-defense, ”tweeted the leader of the radical left party La France insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon, believing that the police should be” completely overhauled “.
At the National Assembly, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, spoke of “extremely shocking images”.
“May justice worthy of the name honor the memory of this child,” tweeted French actor Omar Sy.
In 2022, 13 deaths were recorded after refusals to comply during roadside checks, a record.