In Nanterre, a working-class suburb of Paris, thousands of protesters took to the streets on Thursday afternoon. Among them was Djigui, who expressed how his mother still feels anxious when he leaves the house, despite being a fully-grown adult. He recounts hearing the nervousness in her voice as she checks if he has his ID card and warns him to be careful.
This anxiety proved to be valid in Nanterre on Tuesday when Nahel M., a 17-year-old male of Moroccan and Algerian descent, was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop. This incident ignited a nationwide revolt against police violence and racism. Over the past few nights, protests have escalated dramatically, with demonstrators attacking police stations and vandalizing multiple businesses. The protesters have been throwing Molotov cocktails and fireworks at public buildings and riot police. Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested as a result.
This anger shows no signs of subsiding. Nahel M.’s killing not only revealed the most extreme form of police violence that communities of color in France face but also acted as a catalyst for the ongoing discontent throughout the country. President Emmanuel Macron’s authority has been further weakened as he once again confronts a France engulfed in flames.
Initially, the press portrayed the police officers involved in the killing as acting in self-defense, claiming that they shot an erratic driver who was willing to endanger officers in order to escape custody. This narrative would have afforded the officers protection under a 2017 law passed by Macron’s predecessor, François Hollande, which relaxed restrictions on police firearm use in cases where a driver refuses to stop at an officer’s order. However, this perception changed with the emergence of cellphone footage recorded by a bystander. The video clearly shows two officers standing next to the vehicle, with one aiming his pistol directly at the driver’s window from point-blank range. Before the car accelerated and the fatal shot was fired, someone can be heard saying, “I’m going to put a bullet in your head.” Nahel M. succumbed to his injuries an hour later.
Initially, the government adopted a cautious approach in an attempt to avoid further street unrest, which is often seen as a contagion of the economically deprived and multiracial urban areas known as banlieues, where they experience the brunt of aggressive policing. President Macron condemned the police’s actions as inexcusable and inexplicable, while Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne acknowledged that the officers’ conduct violated engagement rules. However, the government rarely takes meaningful action to address the issue of police violence. Macron tends to attribute deaths caused by the police to the regrettable errors of individual public servants.
Macron’s relationship with the police is also a contributing factor to the problem. Since taking office, he has heavily relied on the police forces, giving them a central role in French political life. The police have been extensively used to counter protests against Macron’s various social reforms and enforce strict lockdown and curfew measures during the pandemic. Now that the police are at the forefront of a national controversy, Macron finds himself in a difficult position.
Additionally, there is political pressure from the right, with many right-wing figures advocating for a tough response to the protesters under the guise of “legitimate self-defense.” The possibility of declaring a state of emergency is being debated, reminiscent of the 2005 riots triggered by the deaths of two young men of color during a police chase.
It is likely that the hard-liners in Macron’s coalition, such as the interior minister Gérald Darmanin, who takes a tough stance on crime, will be emboldened. Macron’s attempt at social appeasement has clearly failed, and his hands are tied as the protests target the institutions of the republic, with Nahel M.’s killing seen as a manifestation of the inherent violence of the police and a society that marginalizes and neglects marginalized young men of color. The protesters and their anger are not going away. Djigui, one of the protesters, describes the situation as France being a pressure cooker that has finally exploded.
Harrison Stetler is a teacher and journalist specializing in French politics and culture.
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