'Justice for Nahel': French policeman charged amid protests over killing
A Paris town of 54,000 people is putting an overnight curfew in place, stretching through the weekend, in response to rioting triggered by the deadly police shooting of a suburban teenager.
French activists renewed calls to tackle what they see as systemic police abuse, particularly in neighbourhoods like the one where Nahel lived, where many residents struggle with poverty and racial or class discrimination. / Photo: AFP
France has charged a policeman with homicide over the fatal shooting of a teen that has left authorities scrambling to contain an escalating crisis and prevent new protest violence.
In a show of tensions, a memorial march for 17-year-old Nahel M. on Thursday ended with riot police firing tear gas as several cars were set alight in the Paris suburb where he was killed.
France has been hit by protests after Nahel was shot point-blank on Tuesday during a traffic stop captured on video that has unleashed rage and reignited debate about police tactics.
"The whole world must see that when we march for Nahel, we march for all those who were not filmed," activist Assa Traore, whose brother died after being arrested in 2016, told the rally led by the teenager's mother.
The policeman accused of shooting Nahel in Nanterre was charged with voluntary homicide and remanded in custody, but it remained to be seen what impact that may have on the unrest.
Some 40,000 police have been mobilised to try to keep the peace on Thursday, more than four times Wednesday's numbers on the ground when dozens were arrested.
Cars and bins were torched Wednesday night in parts of the country, while some 150 people were arrested nationwide following clashes and unrest that left a tramway's carriages on fire in a Paris suburb.
President Emmanuel Macron has called for calm and said the protest violence was "unjustifiable". While, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, speaking in a Paris town where the mayor's office had been set on fire, said "all escalation has to be avoided".
A dozen cars and garbage cans were set ablaze and graffiti for "justice for Nahel".
'Bullet in the head'
The teenager was killed as he pulled away from police who tried to stop him for traffic infractions.
A video showed two policemen standing by the side of the stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at the driver, and then a voice is heard saying: "You are going to get a bullet in the head."
The police officer then appears to fire as the car abruptly drives off.
Clashes first erupted as the video emerged, contradicting police accounts that the teenager was driving at the officer.
On Wednesday night anger spread to Toulouse, Dijon and Lyon, as well as several towns in the Paris region. Masked demonstrators dressed in black launched fireworks at security forces near the scene of Nahel M.'s killing.
Meanwhile, the town of Clamart announced an overnight curfew due to “the risk of new public order disturbances”.
In a statement on its website, it said the curfew would start at 9 pm local (1900 GMT) and last until 6 am (0400 GMT) from Thursday night through to Monday
Mounia, the mother of Nahel, raises her fist with attendees as they hold a minute of silence during a commemoration march for her son, in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre.
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