France has been rocked by successive nights of protests since a teenager was shot at point-blank range during a traffic stop captured on video.
- The 17-year-old teen, Nahel, was shot dead on Tuesday morning during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. The incident has revived longstanding grievances about policing and racial profiling in France’s low-income and multi-ethnic suburbs.
- Videos of Nahel’s encounter with police have amplified protests after eyewitnesses and security camera video contradicted the official narrative.
- The officer who fired at Nehal will be investigated for voluntary homicide after an initial investigation concluded that “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met,” officials said. The accused officer, however, claims that he fired his gun out of fear that the boy would run someone over with the car.
- The teen’s family has not released his surname. Nahel worked as a takeaway delivery driver. For the past three years, he had been an active member of the Pirates of Nanterre rugby club.
- Nahel was the only child raised by his mother Mounia. She alleged that her son was killed because he had an “Arab face.” “The officer saw an Arab face, a little kid, and wanted to take his life,” she told media.