Paris riots: First picture of teenager whose ‘cold-blood’ killing by police triggered night of unrest

Nael M was shot dead by police
ES Composite
Peter Allen28 June 2023

The family of a teenager whose shooting dead by Parispolice triggered a night of rioting said they would “never forgive them”

Nael M., a 17-year-old French-Algerian who is being referred to by the first initial of his surname, was gunned down at the wheel of a Mercedes in the western suburb of Nanterre.

The shooting on Tuesday led to disturbances across the French capital, with 24 arrests by Wednesday morning.

As a picture of 17-year-old Nael was released by his family, along with the words ‘The love of my life’, tensions intensified.

Nael’s mother, who asked not to be named, said: “I lost a 17-year-old, I was alone with him, and they took my baby away from me. He was still a child, he needed his mother.”

And his grandmother, who also remained unidentified, said: “I will never forgive them.

“My grandson died, they killed my grandson. We are not happy at all, I am against the government.

“They killed my grandson, now I don’t care about anyone, they took my grandson from me, I will never forgive them in my life, never, never, never.”

The killing was videoed in Nanterre
Supplied

Verified video of the shooting shows an armed traffic officer pointing his service pistol into the hired Mercedes AMG and saying: “I’m going to lodge a bullet in your head.”

There is then a bang and the car lurches forward, before Nael dies at the scene of the shooting, which happened at roughly 8.30am.

Prosecutors confirmed that the unnamed officer responsible for the shooting was being investigated for ‘murder’.

“At first police said the teenager had tried to run them over, but they changed their tune when the video appeared,” said an investigating source.

The shooting happened close to the Nanterre-Prefecture RER train station, near Nelson-Mandela Square, behind La Défense business district.

Paris Riots | 27 June 2023

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As youths began to pour on to the streets, setting fire to dustbins and buildings including the town hall in the suburb of Mantes-la-Jolie, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin appealed for calm.

He told the National Assembly in Paris that the images posted on social media were “extremely shocking and worrying,” and urged people to “respect the grief of the family and the presumption of innocence of the police”.

Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said the action of the officer ‘raises questions’, while claiming that the officer may have ‘felt threatened.’

Yassine Bouzrou, lawyer for Nael’s family, said the video “clearly showed a policeman killing a young man in cold blood.”

Mr Bouzrou added: “This is a long way from any kind of legitimate defence”.

There were two other unidentified people n the vehicle at the time.

Nanterre mayor Patrick Jarry said he was ‘shocked’ by the video and passed his ‘sincere condolences to the boy’s mother.’

Last year, there were a record 13 deaths after refusals by drivers to stop for traffic controls in France.

Five police officers have been charged in connection with these cases.

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