June 29th 2023.
President Emmanuel Macron faced a major challenge on Thursday as protests erupted for the third day in a row in response to the death of a North African teenager during a police stop in a Paris suburb. In Nanterre, a working-class town on the western outskirts of Paris, protesters set several cars alight and threw projectiles at police officers, who responded with tear gas. Images from television showed that a Paris bank was also ransacked.
The anger and grief of the local community was palpable on the streets, with slogans such as "Vengeance for Nahel" graffitied onto buildings and bus shelters. Macron convened an emergency meeting to discuss the incident, and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne rejected calls from some political opponents to declare a state of emergency.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that 40,000 police officers would be deployed across the nation, including 5,000 in the Paris region, in order to quell the unrest. He stated that the response of the state must be firm. His words were echoed by Pascal Prache, the local prosecutor, who declared that the legal conditions for using the weapon had not been met.
The incident was captured on video, which showed two Paris police officers beside a Mercedes AMG car. One of the officers was seen shooting at the teenage driver at close range as he pulled away. Sadly, he died shortly afterwards from the wounds. The officer in question admitted to firing the shot and stated that he was trying to prevent a car chase, as he feared someone would be hurt after the teenager allegedly committed several traffic violations.
A vigil march was held in Nanterre in memory of Nahel, with participants expressing their frustration over the perceived culture of police impunity and the failure to reform law enforcement. Nahel's mother was present at the march, wearing a white t-shirt with the words "Justice for Nahel" and the date of his death.
The unrest has recalled memories of the riots in 2005, when then-president Jacques Chirac had to declare a state of emergency. The death of Nahel marks the third fatal shooting during traffic stops in Paris this year, and the majority of victims since 2017 have been of Black or Arab origin. Karima Khartim, a local councillor in Blanc Mesnil, stated that people's patience was running thin.
It is clear that the issue of police violence and systemic racism in law enforcement agencies is far from resolved. President Macron must take action to ensure justice for Nahel and to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
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