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Irate rioters in France looted high-end stores such as Louis Vuitton, Zara, and Nike amid violent protests over the death of a 17-year-old boy Nahel by a policeman. Protestors looted items worth millions from high-end designer stores and also smashed the windows of an Apple store in the French capital Paris.
A Twitter user wrote: “Looting the Apple Store in Strasboug. Not a Macron fan to be found. France is spiraling in real time”. Another user wrote: “France looks like The Purge”.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron faced backlash for attending an Elton John concert in Paris amid widespread protests in the country. In viral videos, Macron is seen enjoying the concert along with his wife Brigitte as the British singer performed on Saturday. A user shared the video on Twitter and wrote: “As France burns, Macron dances at an Elton John concert”.
Nahel, a 17-year-old delivery driver, was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop on Tuesday in Paris. The 17-year-old delivery driver was wounded by a gunshot and died at the scene, Associated Press reported citing his family lawyers.
Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said officers tried to pull Nahel over because he looked young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish license plates in a bus lane.
He allegedly ran a red light to avoid being stopped and was stuck in traffic. The officer said he was scared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car as Nahel tried to flee the spot. The police officer accused of killing Nahel was given a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide, implying investigating magistrates strongly suspect wrongdoing but need to investigate more before sending a case to trial.
The slain delivery driver’s mother told France 5 television she was angry at the officer who killed her son but not the police in general. She told France 5: “He saw a little Arab-looking kid, he wanted to take his life”.
She said justice in the case should be “very firm” while adding: “A police officer cannot take his gun and fire at our children, take our children’s lives”. Nahel’s family has roots in Algeria.
At least 170 police officers have been injured band nearly 100 public buildings have been damaged so far due to the protests. The government said that street violence is beginning to ebb thanks to tougher security measures but damages were widespread from Paris to Marseille and Lyon and other French territories overseas.
The French government has deployed around 45,000 police officers to tackle the unrest. Some 2,800 people have been arrested overall since the teen’s death on Tuesday. France was also witness to protests against racial profiling and other injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by the US police in Minnesota.
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