French Police arrested at least 150 protesters in a second night of riots following Tuesday’s fatal shooting of Nahel M., a 17-year-old Arab driver, in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. A video shows Nahel’s canary yellow Mercedes being stopped by traffic cops. One officer with his gun drawn approaches the driver’s side, and when the teenager tries to take off, he is fatally shot.
Located 7 miles northwest of the center of Paris, the picturesque suburb of Nanterre was engulfed in flames on Tuesday and Wednesday, with police firing tear gas at protesters who threw fireworks at them and set fire to parked cars.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday morning described the killing of Nahel as “inexplicable” and “inexcusable,” declaring, “Nothing, nothing justifies the death of a young person,” whose death evoked “the emotion of the whole nation.” The president promised “respect and affection” to the family of the teenager.
The French Police initially lied about the circumstances of the shooting. This, and the fact that Nahel was of North African origin, only encouraged the widely-held perception of police brutality against ethnic groups in France’s large cities.
Some 2,000 riot police were deployed in and around Paris on Wednesday night.
The shooting came after intensifying public protests in France over government legislation, including raising the retirement age and changing immigration policy.
On Saturday, clashes between police and protesters spread to the countryside, and Police said Molotov cocktails had been thrown at officers by an “extremely violent crowd.”
