Major Riots erupt across France after Teenager was Shot Dead by Police

Violent protests shook western Paris suburbs overnight of Wednesday after police shot dead a teenager during a traffic stop. However they appeared to have lied about the circumstances of the killing, one officer has been detained with charges and is under investigation for voluntary manslaughter.

The 17-year-old Nahel M, who was driving the car was pulled over by two policemen on Tuesday for breaking the traffic rules. Police initially reported that the officer shot at the teenager because the driver was driving his car on towards him with an intent to harm. However, his version of events was contradicted by a video circulating on social media.

The footage showed the two policemen standing by the side of the stationary car, as one of them pointing a weapon at the driver. A voice is heard saying in French, translated to as, "You are going to get a bullet in the head."

The police officer appears to fire at the driver at point-blank range as the car abruptly drives off, advancing a few dozen metres before crashing onto a lamp post.

The driver was reportedly died shortly thereafter. The policeman who was seen firing the lethal shot was taken into custody and is now under investigation for voluntary manslaughter.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday the shooting was “inexplicable” and “unforgivable”.

“Nothing can justify the death of a young person,” said Macron on the third day of a visit to Marseille. Macron said the incident had “moved the entire nation”.

Nahel M.'s lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, said he would file a legal complaint against the policeman for voluntary manslaughter and against his colleague for complicity in the shooting. Bouzrou also said he would file a complaint against the policemen for giving false testimony for claiming that Nahel M. had tried to run them over.

It was reported that there were two passengers in the car at the time of the shooting, while one of them ran away and the other, also a teenager, was briefly detained.

News of the incident sparked protests in Nanterre, a western Paris suburb. Bins were set alight and a fire broke out at a music school while police tried to disperse the protesters with teargas. Protests then spread to neighbouring suburbs.

French Minister Gérald Darmanin said Wednesday that 31 people had been arrested overnight, 24 police were slightly injured and around 40 cars torched.

Many celebrities and politicians voiced their outrage at the shooting. Kylian Mbappé, captain of the French men's national football team and star player at Paris Saint-Germain tweeted as. 

"I am hurting for my France. An unacceptable situation. All my thoughts go to the friends and family of Naël, that little angel who left us far too soon,"

Green Party officials also spoke out, denouncing the "Americanisation" of French police tactics.

"What I see in this video is a 17-year-old kid being executed, in France in 2023, by a police officer on a public highway," said the Greens' Marine Tondelier. "It seems like we are heading towards an Americanisation of the police," she warned, adding: refusal to comply with police orders is normally "three years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros, not a bullet in the head".

Minister Gérald Darmanin, who initially was backing the police action, later called the video footage "extremely shocking" in parliament. He said Wednesday that the officer would be suspended "if the charges against him are upheld". He also announced that 2,000 police would be deployed to deal with any further violence later in the day.