2023-06-27 20:20:43
Riots broke out in the Paris suburb of Nanterre after a fatal police shot at a 17-year-old driver during a police check on Tuesday evening. Demonstrators gathered in front of the police station, some of whom threw firecrackers at the officers, the newspaper Le Parisien reported. Garbage containers were also thrown onto the street. The police used tear gas and rubber bullets. 15 people were arrested.
A police motorcycle patrol had stopped the car occupied by three people on Tuesday morning. Video, authenticated by broadcaster France Info, shows one of the officers pointing his gun at the level of the driver’s door at the stationary car. The area in front of the car was clear. When the 17-year-old suddenly drove off at the wheel, the officer fired at the young person at close range and fatally injured him.
As reported by France Info, the officer was taken into police custody on suspicion of manslaughter. According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, after the death of the young driver, the police authorities began investigations to clarify the incident.
The deadly police operation triggered outrage in France, and in view of the video recordings there is talk of excessive police violence. Time and time again, people in France die in banal vehicle checks if they don’t follow police instructions. Often it is not about serious criminals, but, as in the case of Nanterre, about people who have attracted attention with petty crimes. The 17-year-old is said to have been known to the police for previous traffic offenses and was also stopped for such a violation, France Info reported.
This is one of the reasons why the most recent death in a police operation triggered a heated political debate. “The death penalty no longer exists in France. No police officer has the right to kill unless it is in self-defence,” tweeted left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The police bring the authority of the state into disrepute and must be reformed from the ground up.
The president of the conservative Républicains, Éric Ciotti, expressed his support for the police forces in Nanterre. “It’s going to be a tough night, you are the defenders of our collective security. There is no justification for this chaos!”
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