The yellow car is stationary and two policemen lean in through the open window. One officer is already aiming a gun at Nahel Merzouk. Then the car drives on, and suddenly there is a bang. A video shot from a different angle shows Nahel’s yellow car moments later. It is in shambles and has crashed into a lamp post. Nahel M’s car is crashed into a lamp post in Nanterre. Photo: via Reuters The boy, identified by French media only as Nahel M., was only 17 years old. The shot hit him squarely in the chest, fired mere centimeters away. The videos of the murder in the Paris suburb of Nanterre have spread on social media like wildfire. Suburbs and cities throughout France are now characterized by some of the most violent riots since 2005. Just on the night of Thursday, 150 people were arrested. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin says 40,000 police officers will be mobilized throughout France, 5,000 of them in Paris. Had a clean record Nahel went on the electrician course at upper secondary school, but was rarely at school, according to information from the news channel BFM TV. Nahel spent most of his time at his job as a pizza delivery boy. – He wanted to belong, both professionally and socially. He didn’t live by dealing drugs or petty crime, the manager of the rugby club where Nahel spent his free time tells the newspaper Le Parisien. The family’s lawyers have repeated several times that Nahel’s record was clean. Lawyer Yassine Bouzou points out that Nahel had a blank record. Photo: GUILLAUME SALIGOT / Reuters – The boy was 17 years old. He was working, he was a delivery boy, and today he was shot. That is what we know for sure, said public prosecutor Yassine Bouzrou on BFMTV on Tuesday. “Mom, I love you” The mother, Mounia, lived alone with her son. She expresses her despair in a video on TikTok. – This morning he gave me a big kiss and said: “Mom, I love you”. I replied “I love you, take care of yourself”. What will I know an hour later? That someone has shot my son. What should I do? He was my life, my best friend, my son. He was everything to me. We were so close that it was not possible, she says upset. Nahel’s mother calls for rebellion after her son’s death. Photo: Screenshot Tiktok Grandma Nadia tells BFM that Nahel was a “kind and good boy”. The family requests a memorial service on Thursday at 2 pm, in front of the police office in Nanterre. At the same time, the mother calls for a “rebellion”. – I ask you all to come. We are starting a rebellion for my son, says Mounia Merzouk. Accusations of racism Like many in the French population, Nahel had a North African family background. Now there are accusations that the police in many French cities are acting racist towards the multicultural population. It is only two weeks since two policemen were sentenced to unconditional prison terms for falsifying evidence, theft, and violence against two innocent men of Arab and African origin. – Similarities with Black Lives Matter Associate professor and France expert Marte Mangset at Oslo Met says police violence is a general problem in France. France expert Marte Mangset. Photo: HiOA – In recent years, there has been a change in the law that makes it possible for the police to use firearms during traffic controls, among other things to prevent terrorist attacks as a result of the attack in Nice in 2016. – Since then, hundreds of firearms have been used times, and in 2022 there were 13 murders in similar situations, emphasizes Mangset. While the right calls for a state of emergency to combat the unrest in the street, President Emmanuel Macron says the shooting of the boy is “unforgivable” and has called for an emergency meeting. Marte Mangset says it is possible that the situation in France will escalate. – It is something else when you have a video like this that is shared on social media. Then you get a dynamic similar to the Black Lives Matter dynamic in the United States.
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“Mum, I’m happy with you” – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
