France: Fury over police killing teenager as violence spreads to more cities

Violent protests triggered by the cold-blooded killing of a 17-year-old by the police at a traffic check in France spread to more cities, towns and suburbs on Thursday, leading to street fighting between police and bands of youths.

Even as President Emmanuel Macron called the killing of Nael “inexplicable and inexcusable” and called for calm, there was no let up in the violence which erupted on Tuesday night at Nanterre, a town west of Paris, and nearby.

The government immediately deployed 2,000 police personnel to maintain order but clashes resumed after night fell, and police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and extinguish numerous blazes. “Nothing justifies the death of a young person,” the president told the media in Marseille, sparking an angry reaction from police unions which accused him of jumping to conclusion about police conduct.

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The killing of Nael was captured on video and has left France in shock, stirring up long-simmering tensions between young people and police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighbourhoods across the country. Nael’s surname has not been released by authorities or by his family but he is believed to be French-Algerian.

Street violence

The national police service on Thursday reported fires or skirmishes in multiple cities overnight, from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north, though the nexus of tensions was Nanterre and other Paris suburbs.

Paris police announced 35 arrests while scores of others were held around the country. The number of injured was not immediately released. Many vehicles were set ablaze in Nanterre and protesters shot fireworks and threw stones at police, who fired repeated volleys of tear gas. Flames shot out of three stories of a building, and a blaze was reported at an electrical plant.

Fire damaged the town hall of the Paris suburb of LIle-Saint-Denis, not far from France’s national stadium and the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics. The police officer accused of the killing is in custody on suspicion of manslaughter. Nael’s mother called for a silent march Thursday in his honour on the square where he was killed.

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Mass anger

French activists renewed calls to tackle what they see as systemic police abuse, particularly in neighborhoods like the one where Nael lived, where many residents struggle with poverty and racial or class discrimination. Government officials condemned the killing and sought to distance themselves from the police officer’s actions.

Deadly use of firearms is less common in France than in the United States, though several people have died or sustained injuries at the hands of French police in recent years, prompting demands for more accountability. On police abuses, president Macron said justice should be allowed to run its course.

(With agency inputs)