Photo courtesy of GRID-Arendel via Flickr. Scene of Violent protest on June 29, 2023 after the murder of Nahel Merzouk.
By Kiera McLaughlin ’26
Global Editor
On June 27, 2023, Nahel M, a 17-year-old French boy, was fatally shot by police in the suburbs of France. According to BBC, he was shot at the wheel for driving away during a police traffic check. According to CNN, the prosecutor of the case, Pascal Prache, said that the officer claims he fired the gun in fear that Nahel would run someone over. The officer that shot him is now under formal investigation for voluntary homicide and is being contained in preliminary custody.
There have been protests and riots throughout France in reaction to Nahel’s murder, causing travel warnings and reviving conversations about the treatment of marginalized groups throughout the country, especially in the suburbs, CNN reported. Protests continued for five nights, and according to the New York Times, more than 5,000 vehicles were burned, 1,000 buildings were looted, 250 police stations were attacked, 700 officers were injured and about 3,400 people were arrested.
Along with protests taking place in France, CNN reported that French territories have also been met with violent protests including French Guiana, and in Réunion where at least 28 protesters have been arrested.
Activists have focused on fighting against the systemic racism marginalized groups face in France, particularly Black and Arab men. A study in 2017 by an independent human rights group in France revealed that young Black or Arab men were twenty times more likely to be stopped by police. In 2021, Amnesty International commented on the systemic police discrimination in France, saying that “taken together, the evidence demonstrates a pattern of discrimination that cannot be dismissed as isolated or sporadic incidents.”
During the protests, Al Jazeera interviewed some participants in the protests and residents of the suburbs affected by racial discrimination. Tariq, a 52-year-old plumber and father of five from Nanterre, said that “the problem is with the cops not the kids. Even when [kids are] just playing sports in the street, I see the police come and insult them. This is no longer the 1930s. Things have got to change! I feel hatred.”
Other residents made comments about the direct violence Nahel and other people of color face in the suburbs, like Sara, another woman who spoke with Al-Jazeera.
“How many Nahels didn’t get filmed?” Sara asked. She continued, stating that “only a heavy sentence on the policeman can calm the crowds.”
Additionally, Mahamadou Camara, the brother of a police shooting victim in 2018, stated to the news outlet that “videos [of Nahel’s death] show these are not blunders. These are executions.”
Despite the shared resentment towards systemic racism and violence from police officers, some residents of Nanterre disagree with the riots. Land, a 20-year-old accounting student, told Al-Jazeera that “it started with the tragic death of a kid and turned into looting and shop robberies. That’s not a good solution. There are alternatives.”
The New York Times reported that now, with the protests over, the French justice system is processing cases against detained citizens as fast as they can. These “hasty trials” are known as comparutions immésiates (French for ”immediate comparisons”), where lawyers are provided 30 minutes to prepare and most cases end in jail time. The New York Times further reported that while those up for trial have the option to delay their hearing to ensure more preparation time for their lawyers, most do not use the opportunity as it would increase the time they spent in jail while waiting for the case to go to trial.
The BBC likened these protests to riots that took place in 2005 after the deaths of two teenagers, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré. Both teens were electrocuted while running away from the police after a football game, where they eventually ran into an electricity substation in a Paris suburb. Outrage led people in the public housing projects to riot for three weeks, leading to a state of emergency declared while more than 10,000 vehicles were burned and 233 buildings were damaged, according to France 24.
Emile Chabal, specialist in contemporary French history and politics at the University of Edinburgh said in an interview with France 24 that there may be an “ ‘intergenerational memory’ of racist violence and racialized policing” through this next generation of protesters.
“Each new cycle of violence [becomes] more intense, as children avenge not just the injustices committed against them but also the injustices committed against those who came before them,” Chabal explained.
These generational cycles are further perpetuated through the suburbs on the outskirts of major cities in France. France 24 explained that 40 percent of the residents in these public housing projects in the suburbs are under 25 years old and usually come from immigrant backgrounds. Human Rights Watch found that the younger generation in economically disadvantaged areas is a target of discrimination from police, “even when there is no sign or evidence of wrongdoing.”
The New York Times reports that there have been some changes in French policing over the years, such as the use of body cameras for police officers, to address these patterns of violent discrimination. However, France 24 reported that residents have expressed a desire for something called “proximity policing” (also known as “community policing”) as part of the solution. Julien Talpin, a political science researcher specializing in disadvantaged neighborhoods in France, said in an interview with France 24 that these suburbs need, “officers that are, on a daily basis, in these neighborhoods and can actually build trust with residents.”