In summary
- Shooting of 17-year-old Nahel by police angers Muslims in France.
- Police admit to shooting Nahel but to save lives they claim.
- Muslims bay for police blood in revenge, rioters fail an assassination attempt on Paris mayor.
- Nahel’s grandmother appeals for clam, claims Nahel is just an excuse to riot.
17 year old Nahel, French citizen of Algerian origin was shot at close range at a traffic stop on Nelson Mandela Square on Tuesday 27th June. He had refused to stop after traffic offense resulting to a wild chase endangering pedestrians and himself.
“We wanted to avoid another chase endangering pedestrian’s lives and us. We feared for other lives” The police justified.
According to reports, Nahel was seen driving on the bus lane early morning hours. When asked to stop, he instead sped off. No number of sirens and prevail could stop him from committing many offenses endangering lives of pedestrians.
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Violence erupts.
Nahel’s close-range shooting instead evoked violent emotions across France especially from citizens of Muslim and Algerian origin. According to them this was a racial killing similar to George Floyd in the US with bias to religion.
‘Allah Akbar! We are Muslims, if the police kill us we have the right to kill. It is written in the Koran!’ a protestor was captured baying for police blood as pay back.
In France, minorities have always felt targeted and any aggression towards them by law enforcers easily results to violent riots on the streets.
The protests started in Paris where Nahel was shot quickly spreading an intensifying to Lyon, Marselle, Lille, among other cities. This has intensified for five days and could be the worst ever.
The Damage.
Nahel was laid to rest in Paris on Saturday 1st July in Muslim ceremony full of raw emotions.
So far the police have made over 700 arrests across France and over 3000 detained since Nahel’s death.
In a daring ordeal in the night, the protestors rammed the Paris mayor Vincent Jeanbrun’s home with a burning car in an assassination attempt that left the wife and children injured.
Unconfirmed reports on socials allege more than 2000 cars burned and 350 buildings damaged so far. Uncontrolled looting of businesses bringing France to its knees.
Rioters are fully armed with automatic rifles, explosives and short guns, taking shape of more than just riots, feared civil uprising.
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Hope for calm and peace
Nahel’s grandmother appeal for calm seems to have cooled down the violence.
“Stop the destruction, it is mothers who use the buses, and children who go to school. We want things to calm down” she pleaded claiming Nahel’s was just an excuse for the riots.
This as President Emmanuel Macron postponed his historical trip to Germany to address the issue as the French feared for an escalation to a civil war. This would have been the first France head of state visit to Germany in 23 years.
In his approach, Macron was set to meet the 220 mayors whose cities were affected by the protests along with government ministers.
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On his twitter account, Macron has not revealed outcomes but eulogized a liberation hero Léon Gautier
“We are not heroes, we only did our duty,” he repeated.
Last member of the Kieffer commando who landed with his 176 French comrades in Normandy on June 6, 1944, hero of the Liberation, Léon Gautier has left us. We won’t forget it.”
