Protests spread in France over police killing of 17-year-old

Unrest continued in France for a second night as security forces deployed in their thousands to quell protests over the killing of a 17-year-old boy by police, which French President Emmanuel Macron described as “inexcusable” while pleading for calm as justice took its course, according to Aljazeera. 

Approximately 2,000 riot police were called up in suburbs around Paris on Wednesday night following the fatal, point-blank range shooting on Tuesday morning of the teenager during a traffic check in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

Protesters set fire to rubbish bins and fireworks were set off in Nanterre on Wednesday night, as well as in other communes of the Hauts-de-Seine region to the west of Paris, and in the eastern city of Dijon. In the Essonne region to the south of the capital, a group of people set a bus on fire after having all the passengers get off, police said.

In the southern city of Toulouse, several cars were torched and responding police and firefighters were pelted with projectiles as thick black smoke billowed high into the sky, a police source said.

Anger over the killing spawned unrest in multiple towns around Paris on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that 150 arrests had been made across the country, adding that town halls, schools and police stations were set on fire or attacked.

“A teenager was killed. That is inexplicable and unforgivable,” Macron said during an official visit to Marseille in southern France. “Nothing can justify the death of a young person,” he said.

French celebrities including star footballer Kylian Mbappe expressed outrage and grief at the death of the teenager, while the government issued rare criticism of the security forces in a bid to cool tempers.

The victim, identified as Nahel M from Nanterre, was pulled over by two police officers for breaking traffic rules while driving a yellow Mercedes on Tuesday morning.

Police initially reported that an officer had shot at the teenager because he was driving his car at him but this version of events was contradicted by a video circulating on social media. That footage shows the two police officers standing by the side of the stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at the driver.

A voice is heard saying: “You are going to get a bullet in the head.” The police officer then appears to fire as the car abruptly drives off.

The 38-year-old policeman filmed firing the lethal shot was taken into custody afterwards and is under investigation for voluntary manslaughter.

The incident has reignited debate in France about police tactics amid longstanding criticism from rights groups about the treatment of people in low-income suburbs, particularly ethnic minorities.

Naima, who said her sons knew the victim, said they were “in shock” following the killing.

“They said Mum, what should we do? What’s happening with the police these days? Are they protecting us, or do we need to be protected from the police?” Naima told Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler in Nanterre.