On June 27th, a warm clear Tuesday Morning in the suburb of Nanterre, West of Paris, a rare event occurred in the city: A traffic stop turned deadly. While this occurs less frequently in France compared to other nations like the United States, what made this murder attain such a high media presence was the victim: Nahel Merzouk, a 17 year old of Algerian descent. What followed and is still happening in France are even more protests and looting.

This type of violent incident is one that happens too frequently, and occurred 13 times last year. A traffic stop in France is common, as officers do not need a visible reason to stop cars to check the driver’s documents. However, violence in France, especially police violence, is often targeted towards racial minorities. This was shown earlier this year with past riots over a new law. 

Nahel was a young adult who was known in his community as a kind-hearted individual. While he was known to police officers for 15 past incidents, he did not have a police file on him, according to his family’s lawyer. However, he was summoned to juvenile court last September. At 17 years of age in France, somebody cannot have a driving license, and may be what initiated the traffic stop. The car Nahel was driving was a rented Mercedes with Polish plates. The traffic stop was caught on camera and rapidly spread through social media, where many immediately jumped to attack or defend the officer who shot Nahel. 

The communities within Nanterre saw Nahel as a kid trying to get somewhere in life. He was a high school student and pizza delivery driver, and played rugby. He was also enrolled in a program for students with less satisfactory grades to be able to get an apprenticeship as an electrician. 

The French government, in a rare demonstration of justice, immediately suspended the officer and are holding an investigation for murder. Unlike how the United States handles its officer violence issues, France has detained the officer on charges of voluntary homicide and the prosecutor’s office will continue the investigation. Due to the highly public video, the government decided the best course of action ws to support the victim, Nahel, and not the officer. In past scenarios, the police is unfortunately defended to a certain extent by the government, unlike in this case.

The general consensus seems to be that this specific instance of violence was another example of the dire need for a change of regulations regarding how police violence is treated, as typically no major consequences come from this. However, the fact that a video was recorded with the officer shooting without having a reason to on camera left few skeptical that the officer was guilty of murder. Nahel’s mother has stated that she believed that the only guilty party in this policing fiasco was the officer who shot her son.

The United Nations have not sat idly by before or after this incident. In May of this year, the Human Rights Council in Geneva became a megaphone for countries to air their concerns with France’s violent policing methods. Nations like Sweden and Denmark spoke about this, but also nations like Russia and Iran, who themselves are the subject of these discussions. It is rarely a good sign to have a nation that is known for police brutality to condemn your nation’s police brutality, and should have raised concerns in the French government. 

In addition to this, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has released a statement regarding the shooting on Tuesday, which amongst statements of concern and preparation for the protests, stated that they “note that an investigation has been launched into alleged voluntary homicide. This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement.”

What followed Tuesday evening through to today are multiple peaceful protests for police reform and greater protection against racial discrimination by officers in France. The second night of protests was when major violent clashes began, with fireworks and burning cars involved. By Thursday, 40,000 extra officers were called in and tear gas was used against the violent clashes. The latest count seems to show that over 650 people were arrested in these clashes.

As the weekend rolls in, the protests will probably not cease to grow and the clashes will only worsen until some clear action is taken either to resolve the underlying issue of racially discriminatory police violence or to the conviction of the officer. On the government’s side, we see high officials stating that change is needed, and we can hope to see some resolution with most political parties backing some change.