French Riots of 2023: The Police Were Right

In an encounter with a 'migrant' or the son of a 'migrant', the police are usually right. But,  'Will the media machine ... be able to admit that it was wrong?' Probably not.

From The European Conservative

By Hélène de Lauzun, PhD

The investigation proved that the police officer's account was accurate and that the young offender was in the wrong.

Just over a year ago, France was gripped by a wave of violent riots following the death of Nahel, who was shot by a police officer as he fled after being pulled over. At the time, the young boy became a symbol of ‘police violence’ and ‘systemic racism’ on the part of the police. The in-depth investigation now proves that the police version of events was the correct one.

Let’s review the facts. On June, 27th 2023, Nahel Merzouk, a French-Algerian aged 17—i.e., under the legal driving age in France—was at the wheel of a powerful rental car registered in Poland, a Mercedes A-class, worth €50,000, with two minors as passengers. Refusing a police traffic stop, the young man ran the car at an officer, forcing the latter to shoot in self-defence. Nahel died as a result of the close-range gunfire.

On June 29th, the police officer was remanded in custody and an investigation was opened against him for culpable homicide. A wave of riots ensued across France in response to what was then interpreted as illegitimate police violence. Numerous videos were circulated on social media to support the theory that the police had targeted an innocent victim.

The case rekindled the debate about excessive use of force by the French police, but also about the existence of ‘systemic racism’ in the police force itself. At the end of June 2023, a commentary on the riots released by Reuters included the claim that the majority of people killed by police in France since 2017 as a result of refusing to obey a traffic check were “black or of Arab origin.” At the time, leftists La France Insoumise called for a “convergence of uprisings” and fanned the flames of violence in the suburbs.

The investigation, conducted by the internal disciplinary body of the French police, the IGPN, lasted several months and ended in the summer of 2024, a year after the events. The version put forward by the civil parties—Nahel’s family, but more broadly, the version defended by the Left in support of the rioters and condemning the police officer who fired the shot—was finally refuted.

Police officers were also accused of hitting Nahel with a pistol butt, an accusation proven false by the autopsy. The forensic examination of the car concluded that the 17-year-old had deliberately restarted his vehicle after being stopped by police, leading the officer to fire his weapon. The start-up and acceleration of the car caused the police officer’s shot to be deflected, as his elbow was resting on the car’s windshield.

Throughout the investigation, the two police officers never changed their story, and given the report, their account appears to be consistent with what actually happened. The minutes of the investigation reveal that at no point was there any intention to kill.

For the time being, the police officer who fired the shot is still under investigation for culpable homicide, while his colleague has been charged as an assisted witness for complicity in murder. It remains to be seen what the judges will finally decide. Will the media machine, which had railed against the two men, be able to admit that it was wrong?

Pictured: Policemen with motorcycles and a car, courtesy of Wikipedia