On Tuesday in the municipality of Nanterre, outside Paris, two French police officers were attempting to stop and investigate a car driven by a 17-year-old named Nahel, who was known to the police for various infractions including refusing to comply with police. The driver attempted to take off with one officer standing at the driver's side window, apparently talking to the driver, and the other officer leaning across the left side of the hood and pointing his weapon at the driver. As the driver took off, one of the officers (it is not clear which) fired at the driver who crashed the car and died.
The officer who fired the fatal shot(s) has been placed in custody pending investigation of murder charges.
French President Emmanuel Macron publicly stated that the shooting was inexcusable.
Meanwhile, many French cities, including Nanterre, Toulouse, and others have had two nights of riots by immigrant communities. (Nahel was part of the "immigrant community", but it is not known to me if he was born in France or not.) Dozens have been arrested and the French prison of Fresnes has reportedly been attacked by dozens of men attempting to free those arrested.
The below report from France 24 (translation pending) starts off with a video camera showing the actual shooting. It has been reported that one of the officers allegedly said, "I'm going to put a bullet in your head" just before the shooting.
The French blog, Francois deSouche, has a multitude of videos showing the rioting in various French cities. You can scroll down through them.
https://www.fdesouche.com/2023/06/28/seconde-nuit-demeutes-nanterre-lille-amiens-toulouse-en-direct/
We will continue to follow this story and provide some translation from French as well. I will have more to say on the shooting itself as well.
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