Tracing the Latest Riots in France

CV NEWS FEED // Riots against alleged racially-charged police brutality have spread across France following the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old Algerian boy last week.

On the morning of June 27, French police began to pursue Nahel Merzouk after spotting him driving in a bus lane in Nanterre, a prefecture approximately six miles north of the Paris city center. 

Merzouk reportedly attempted to flee from the two officers pursuing him in a car chase, but was eventually stopped by traffic congestion. He allegedly violated several traffic laws during the pursuit, endangering pedestrians and cyclists. 

His mother insists Merzouk’s record was clean, but reports have surfaced alleging that he had fled from police on numerous occasions. 

The initial police report falsely claimed the officer shot Merzouk out of self-defense after the teen began to drive the car in his direction. 

A video of the incident which contradicted this claim circulated online, setting off a chain of violent reactions in cities across France, as well as in Belgium and Switzerland. 

In the video, two police officers stand on the driver’s side of Merzouk’s yellow Mercedes AMG yelling and pointing their weapons into the vehicle. After a few seconds, the car starts to pull away quickly and the officer closest to the front of the vehicle fires a single shot into the driver’s window. 

The car then sped off, crashing into a traffic pole. According to French news reports, the crash occurred at 8:19 am. The officer who shot Merzouk then attempted to give the teen CPR. Paramedics arrived on the scene at 8:21 am. 

Despite these efforts, Merzouk died as a result of his injuries. Reports say the bullet passed through his left arm and chest. 

A rear-seat passenger of the vehicle was arrested immediately following the crash, while a front-seat passenger managed to escape. 

The passenger who fled posted a video on social media, claiming a police officer told Nahel “Cut the engine or I’ll shoot you,” before striking the teen with the butt of his gun. The passenger claimed the officer made additional threats to shoot Merzouk and struck him again with the butt of his weapon. 

After the officer struck Merzouk with the butt of his rifle for a third time, the passenger claims, Merzouk released his foot from the brake pedal and the car—which was not in park mode—lurched forward. This prompted the second officer to fire his weapon, after which Merzouk reacted, hitting the accelerator and crashing into the barrier, according to the passenger.

“I was afraid,” the passenger recounts in the video. “I got out of the car and I ran away. I thought they might shoot me.”

Police body camera footage of the incident has not been released to the public.

Reports say that over the past six days, more than 3,300 people have been arrested in connection with the riots. One thousand structures, including residential, commercial, and government buildings have been badly damaged or destroyed. 

After three days of heightened violence, the French government deployed 45,000 police officers over the weekend in an effort to defuse the situation. Approximately 700 officers have sustained injuries during the riots. 

Countless purported videos of the riots posted on social media—many of them now reported to be false—have exacerbated the situation. Merzouk’s mother reportedly posted a video on TikTok calling for “a revolt for my son,” and has been recorded in several other videos leading protests. 

His grandmother called for an end to the violence and destruction Tuesday morning, saying “They should not damage the schools, not break the buses, it was the moms who take the buses.”

The Conférence des responsables de culte en France (CRCF), an ecumenical group of French religious leaders, released a joint statement on July 1, also calling for an end to violence and destruction. 

Extending their prayers and sympathy to Merzouk’s family, the signatories acknowledged the “suffering and anger” that motivated the riots.

“We share the pain of Nahel’s family and pray for them, especially for his mother.”

However, they wrote definitively, “We also say with one voice that violence is never a good path.”

The signatories – representing the Catholic Church, Islam, Judaism, the Orthodox Church, the Protestant Federation, and the Buddhist Union of France – called for increased cooperation and “trust” between the public and authorities. 

Police officers tasked with responding to the riots “have given so much during the trials that our country has gone through” that they merit respectful compliance, the statement argued. “May all believers be today more than ever servants of peace and the common good. We are all together available to contribute to it.”

The Catholic Conference of Bishops in France has also posted a prayer for peace. 

The French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, said he planned to spend over 20 million euros (approximately $21.77 million US dollars) to repair municipal CCTV equipment that has been destroyed since the start of the riots. 

On Twitter, French President Emmanuel Macron has called the fatal shooting “unacceptable” and the violence following it “unjustified.” He was forced to cancel a trip to Germany on account of the widespread violence, and met with 220 French mayors whose towns have been affected. 

The officer who shot Merzouk is now in custody and under formal investigation for voluntary homicide. Last Thursday, the head prosecutor in Nanterre said the officer violated “legal conditions for the use of the weapon.” 

Merzouk’s funeral took place on Saturday, July 1 at Nanterre’s grand mosque. 

The situation in France comes in the wake of rising racial tensions between native Europeans and the Muslim immigrant population.

The Wall Street Journal reports that “widespread recording of interactions between police and people from minority communities—with smartphones, dashboard cameras and police body cams” in France has contributed to public indignation in recent years. 

French authorities are prohibited from reporting information on race “in almost all facets of life, from police stops to household incomes to performance in school,” the WSJ writes.  

The policy, though intended to champion equity among citizens, precludes accurate reporting on instances in which French police clash with members of the Muslim population. 

The current situation is reminiscent of a similar event which occurred in 2005, when the death of two Muslim teenagers resulted from a disputed police chase and ignited three weeks of rioting. A national state of emergency was declared for 10 days. 

France’s Foreign Affairs Ministry claims “All accusations of racism or systemic discrimination by law enforcement are totally unfounded.”

The Alliance Police Nationale and UNSA Police unions released a statement on June 30 saying they were at war with the rioters, who they called “vermin.”