Thursday | June 29, 2023

Violence unrest erupted in the bustling streets of Paris in France after a juvenile Nahel M. was brutally gunned down by the police on Tuesday morning, June 27.

Today, Reuters highlighted the escalating tension in the French government corridors as “protesters torched cars, barricaded streets and hurled projectiles at the police following a peaceful night vigil” in Nanterre, a suburb west of Paris.

This comes after the 17-year-old drove off after stopping under police’s instruction. Then the men of the law fired gunshots at him resulting in his death.

Adored by his community, BBC says Nahel M. was the “only child brought up by his mother, he had been working as a takeaway delivery driver and played rugby league”.

The death of the teenager tipped over the ire of the people as they took to the Paris streets to remonstrate against police excessive use of force. As tensions rose, law and safety officials had their hands full and fired teargas among other means in their attempt to disperse the disgruntled citizens.

According to Al Jazeera, the French regime unleashed “40,000 police” across the country, of which “5,000” of them were deployed in the streets of Paris to quell widespread protests on Wednesday.

President Emmanuel Macron denounced the action of the police who killed the youth and called for calm as the state seeks ways to resolve the impasse. Meanwhile CNN reported that the police official at the center of the fatal shooting of the youth is facing a probe.

Incidents of police brutality have been widely reported in France. Could this latest fatal episode open a new page on the conduct and tactics used by the law enforcers in one of the richest economies in Europe?