Nahel shooting: French government short on answers in face of widespread unrest
The angry reaction in many disadvantaged districts of France after the shooting of 17-year-old Nahel has once again put police violence back on the political agenda. Lacking any viable response to the unrest, however, the government is simply switching between showing compassion for the teenager and his family, and displaying toughness in the face of disorder. Ilyes Ramdani examines the French government's reaction to the shooting and its aftermath.
TheThe French government has changed tack. Two days after the shooting of 17-year-old Nahel at a police roadblock at Nanterre in the western suburbs of Paris, the minister of the interior is now talking about a tough crackdown on the unrest that has broken out in several of the country's cities. “We've carried out a massive deployment of forces of law and order for this evening and night,” Gérald Darmanin told prefects on Thursday, talking about the mobilisation of 40,000 officers, including specialist units such as the elite police tactical group RAID, its gendarme equivalent the GIGN and BRI units which tackle serious crimes.
