LAW AND JUSTICEFRANCE
Unrest in Paris suburb after police kill a 17-year-old
1 hour ago1 hour ago
Lawyers for the teen’s families have rejected police claims that the shooting was prompted by the driver threatening to hit them with the car.
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Firefighters work to put out a burning car.
Outrage erupts in Paris after police shoot dead a teenImage: ZAKARIA ABDELKAF/AFP
Protesters and police clashed overnight in the Paris suburb of Nanterre where a 17-year-old delivery driver was shot and killed by a police officer.
Angered by the shooting death demonstrators setting barricades on fire and police firing tear gas.
The officer accused of firing on the driver has been detained on homicide charges, the Nanterre prosecutors’ office said.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that the police supervisory body (IPGN) has launched an internal investigation into the incident.
The violence, which began on Tuesday evening with a demonstration outside the Nanterra police station, spread to neighboring towns.
In Mantes-la-Jolie, a town hall was set ablaze. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets but soon had to retreat.
Authorities said 15 people were arrested.
Tensions rise, police detain protesters
The protests were sparked by a video posted on social media of Tuesday’s shooting incident.
In the video, which several French news outlets have verified, two police officers can be seen trying to stop a vehicle, and one is pointing his weapon at the driver through the window and firing at point blank when he drives off.
The car moved a few dozen meters before crashing.
Lawyers representing the family of the young driver rejected police assertions that the officers’ lives were in danger because the driver had threatened to run them over.
A passenger who was in the car was briefly detained and then released. Police are searching for another passenger who fled.
Political reactions to the incident
Jean-Luc Melenchon, a left-wing politician, said that the police were bringing the authority of the state into disrepute and needed to be reformed from the ground up.
“The death penalty no longer exists in France. No police officer has the right to kill except in self-defense,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Eric Ciotti, the president of the conservative Republicains, expressed his support for the police.
Ciotti called the police “defenders of our collective security,” and referred to the protest while tweeting that “Nothing justifies this chaos!”
Deadly use of firearms is less common in France than in the US.
ns/lo (dpa, AP, AFP)
