Riots in France after police officer kills young man

On 27 June in Nanterre, 17-year-old Nahel was killed by a police officer. The video showing the police officer shooting the young man at point-blank range during a traffic check quickly made the rounds on social networks. Violent rioting followed across France, with its share of looting and ransacking. The house of an elected representative and a town hall were targeted. The violence left two rioters dead, in Cayenne and Marseille, one of them as a result of police fire.

These days of extreme tension gave rise to polarised and heated debates, with some denouncing the “impoverishment” of young people from disadvantaged suburbs and others criticising the violence and impunity of the police. The dispute came to a head when the fund in support of the policeman’s family was three times fuller than the fund for Nahel’s family. The crisis may seem to be over, but the government still needs to get serious about finding lasting solutions to the problem of police violence and the feeling of abandonment that is undermining disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

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