The authorities in France have opened a prison investigation after a 17-year-old driver was shot and killed by a police officer throughout a visitors cease close to Paris, an episode that touched off an evening of violence and fueled a longstanding debate on using lethal pressure by the nation’s safety forces.
Initial news studies, primarily based on what had been described as nameless police sources, had urged that the driving force had plowed into two officers along with his automotive on Tuesday through the cease in Nanterre, west of the capital. But an unconfirmed video of the capturing that appeared later led to accusations that the police had acted too aggressively, and prosecutors in Nanterre have opened a manslaughter investigation.
The video, believed to have been filmed by a witness, unfold shortly on social networks and was picked up by the French news media. It exhibits two helmeted law enforcement officials on the left-hand facet of a yellow automotive that’s stopped on the road. The video was additionally obtained by The New York Times from an individual who stated she was near the witness and who spoke on the situation of anonymity out of concern of repercussions for sharing the footage.
The officers, each peering into the driving force’s window, are heard shouting, though what they stated to the sufferer, recognized by attorneys for his household as Naël M., was unclear. One of the officers leans onto the windshield and factors what seems to be a firearm on the driver, and because the automotive begins shifting away, a loud bang is audible.
That officer is in police custody, although he has not been charged, and the household of the driving force stated that it was going to file a grievance accusing the police officer of homicide.
On Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, expressed “the nation’s sympathy” for {the teenager}’s household. “Justice must be done,” Mr. Macron instructed reporters in Marseille, in southern France. “Nothing justifies the death of a young person,” he stated, including: “What we all want is calm.”
Gérald Darmanin, the French inside minister, instructed reporters in Paris on Wednesday, “We have all seen these extremely shocking images.”
“When a young man dies in conditions like these, emotion is normal,” Mr. Darmanin added.
Mr. Darmanin stated that the police officer could be punished if warranted. “An act like the one that we saw, if the investigation confirms the videos that we have seen, is never justified,” he stated. The two officers are skilled members of the visitors police of their late 30s and early 40s, and had no document of misconduct, Mr. Darmanin added.
The capturing shortly infected long-simmering anger in suburbs the place relations between the police and residents are sometimes fraught with distrust. On Tuesday that rage shortly spilled into violence, particularly within the Hauts-de-Seine space, which incorporates Nanterre.
More than 30 folks had been arrested in a single day, in line with the French authorities, after protesters threw rocks and fireworks at riot police, who responded with tear fuel. Protesters additionally burned some 40 automobiles and set hearth to building shacks and a few buildings. A metropolis corridor annex in Mantes-la-Jolie, a city additional west of Paris, was fully destroyed.
Mr. Darmanin stated that 2,000 law enforcement officials and gendarmes could be deployed throughout France on Wednesday night to comprise unrest.
The prosecutor’s workplace in Nanterre stated in a press release on Tuesday that the capturing occurred on Tuesday morning, between 8:15 and eight:20, close to Place Nelson Mandela, a sq. in Nanterre not removed from La Défense, a business district northwest of Paris.
Two folks had been within the automobile along with the driving force, the prosecutor’s workplace stated: One of them was launched after questioning by the police; the opposite was nonetheless being sought by the authorities after fleeing the scene.
Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police prefect, instructed the French TV channel CNews on Wednesday that the 2 officers had tried to cease the automotive as a result of the driving force had dedicated a number of visitors violations and had refused to cease a primary time, earlier than getting caught in visitors. That is when the 2 law enforcement officials had been in a position to strategy the automobile, he stated.
Mr. Nuñez stated an investigation would decide the circumstances of the incident.
“It isn’t normal to die during a traffic stop when you are 17,” Mr. Nuñez famous.
The driver died an hour after being shot, the prosecutor’s workplace stated. An post-mortem was anticipated on Wednesday, however preliminary exams didn’t point out that the driving force had been underneath the affect of any drug or alcohol, the prosecutor’s workplace stated.
Yassine Bouzrou, a lawyer for the household of the driving force, stated that along with the grievance towards the police officer who fired the shot, the household would additionally file a swimsuit accusing the opposite officer of complicity in what they referred to as a homicide and one other authorized motion accusing the officers of mendacity concerning the incident of their preliminary statements.
Deadly firearm deaths are unusual in France, however the capturing on Tuesday shortly captured the nation’s consideration, together with celebrities.
The actor Omar Sy and the soccer participant Kylian Mbappé each expressed help for Naël’s household on social media.
“My France hurts,” Mr. Mbappé wrote on Twitter, calling the incident an “unacceptable situation.”
Constant Méheut contributed reporting.
Source: www.nytimes.com