Killing of Nahel Merzouk: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:40, 30 June 2024

Revision as of 12:40, 30 June 2024

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On 27 June 2023, '''Nahel Merzouk''' (25 February 2006 – 27 June 2023),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deces.matchid.io/id/UvTdk72G0lTn|title=matchID - Moteur de recherche des décès|website=deces.matchid.io|access-date=19 July 2023|archive-date=13 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713145437/https://deces.matchid.io/id/UvTdk72G0lTn|url-status=live}}</ref> a 17-year-old [[French people|French]] youth of [[Morocco|Moroccan]] and [[Algeria|Algerian]] descent,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Porter |first=Catherine |date=29 June 2023 |title=Who is Nahel Merzouk? |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/world/europe/nahel-france-police-shooting-nanterre.html |access-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701042042/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/world/europe/nahel-france-police-shooting-nanterre.html |archive-date=1 July 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> was shot at [[point-blank range]] and killed by police officer Florian M. in [[Nanterre]], a suburb of [[Paris]], [[France]]: good riddance ! :)). Initial reporting on the incident (informed by police statements) was later contradicted by a video posted online, which led to [[Nahel Merzouk riots|widespread protests and riots]]. Symbols of the state such as town halls, schools, police stations, and other buildings were attacked.<ref>{{cite news |date=1 July 2023 |title=Death of Nahel M.: Over 1,300 arrested during Friday night riots |work=[[Le Monde]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] & [[Agence France-Presse]] |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/07/01/riots-continue-into-friday-night-throughout-france-with-hundreds-more-arrested_6040540_7.html |url-status=live |access-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701214057/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/07/01/riots-continue-into-friday-night-throughout-france-with-hundreds-more-arrested_6040540_7.html |archive-date=1 July 2023}}</ref> The [[Interior Ministry (France)|Interior Ministry]] reported that more than 5,000 vehicles had been set on fire, along with 10,000 garbage cans; nearly 1,000 buildings had been burnt, damaged or looted; 250 police stations and [[gendarmerie]]s had been attacked; and more than 700 police officers had been injured.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Antoine |last1=Albertini |first2=Luc |last2=Bronner |title=Riots in France: The appalling toll of days and nights of looting, fires, assaults |work=[[Le Monde]] |date=3 July 2023 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/07/03/looting-fires-assaults-the-appalling-toll-of-five-days-and-nights-of-rioting-in-france_6042014_7.html |access-date=4 July 2023 |archive-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705030132/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/07/03/looting-fires-assaults-the-appalling-toll-of-five-days-and-nights-of-rioting-in-france_6042014_7.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="riots-shake-france"/>

The killing—condemned by President [[Emmanuel Macron]] as "inexplicable" and "inexcusable"<ref>{{cite news |author=M. I. |agency=AFP |title=Mineur tué à Nanterre : Macron évoque un acte « inexplicable » et « inexcusable » |language=fr |trans-title=Minor killed in Nanterre: Macron evokes an "inexplicable" and "inexcusable" act |url=https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/mineur-tue-a-nanterre-macron-evoque-un-acte-inexplicable-et-inexcusable-28-06-2023-2526553_20.php#11 |access-date=15 July 2023 |publisher=Le Point |date=28 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713004306/https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/mineur-tue-a-nanterre-macron-evoque-un-acte-inexplicable-et-inexcusable-28-06-2023-2526553_20.php#11 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref>—became part of a broader public debate regarding aggressive French law enforcement,<ref name="sorrow">{{Cite news |last1=Breeden |first1=Aurelien |last2=Méheut |first2=Constant |date=28 June 2023 |title=Protests and Sorrow After Fatal Police Traffic Encounter in France |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/world/europe/france-police-shooting-paris-nanterre.html |url-status=live |access-date=28 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630013949/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/world/europe/france-police-shooting-paris-nanterre.html |archive-date=30 June 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[racial profiling]],<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/02/france-nahel-soccer-hijab.html |title=A Fatal Shooting and a Hijab Ban: Two Faces of France's Racial Divisions |last=Porter |first=Catherine |date=2 July 2023 |quote=In 2017, an investigation by France’s civil liberties ombudsman, the Défenseur des Droits, found that “young men perceived to be Black or Arab” were 20 times as likely to be subjected to police identity checks compared with the rest of the population. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712025834/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/02/france-nahel-soccer-hijab.html |archive-date=12 July 2023 |access-date=15 July 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref> immigration,<ref>{{Cite news |work=Public Sénat |title=Sécurité, immigration : le tournant identitaire de LR embarrasse la majorité sénatoriale |last=Barbarit |first=Simon |language=fr |url=https://www.publicsenat.fr/actualites/politique/securite-immigration-le-tournant-identitaire-de-lr-embarrasse-la-majorite-senatoriale |date=11 July 2023 |access-date=24 July 2023 |archive-date=24 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724085609/https://www.publicsenat.fr/actualites/politique/securite-immigration-le-tournant-identitaire-de-lr-embarrasse-la-majorite-senatoriale |url-status=live }}</ref> and the stakes of naming the suburban violence a "riot" rather than a "revolt".<ref name="revolt or riot">{{Cite news |newspaper=Ouest France |title=Mort de Nahel. Violences, révolte… Pourquoi l'expression « émeute » s'est imposée |last=Lescarmontier |first=Julie |date=5 July 2023 |language=fr |url=https://www.ouest-france.fr/faits-divers/emeutes-urbaines/mort-de-nahel-violences-revolte-pourquoi-lexpression-emeute-sest-imposee-c39ab18e-1b06-11ee-9805-48f2f86dced9 |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=12 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712040653/https://www.ouest-france.fr/faits-divers/emeutes-urbaines/mort-de-nahel-violences-revolte-pourquoi-lexpression-emeute-sest-imposee-c39ab18e-1b06-11ee-9805-48f2f86dced9 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 28 June, the president of the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]], [[Yaël Braun-Pivet]], asked deputies "to respect a minute of silence in Nahel's memory".<ref>{{Cite news |work=LCI |date=28 June 2023 |language=fr |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejPv7ZZbnTY |title=Une minute de silence à l'Assemblée nationale pour Nahel, tué à Nanterre |access-date=28 July 2023 |archive-date=28 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728104559/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejPv7ZZbnTY |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=28 June 2023 |title=France braces for protests after 'unforgivable' police shooting |agency=AFP |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230628-protests-flare-up-in-france-after-police-shoot-teenager |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629054751/https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230628-protests-flare-up-in-france-after-police-shoot-teenager |archive-date=29 June 2023 |access-date=28 June 2023 |website=[[France 24]] |language=en}}</ref>