'Death an excuse to create ruckus': Nahel's grandmother calls for end to riots in France

The grandmother of the teenager who was shot by the French police called for calm after massive protests that took over France continues to take ugly turns. On Sunday, July 2, Nahel’s grandmother stated that the family wants things to calm down. The victim's grandmother spoke to French news outlet BFM TV and asserted that some of the protestors are using her grandson’s death as an “excuse” to cause a ruckus. The country’s police have made at least 700 arrests on the fifth night of the rioting in France, The Guardian reported. However, the local mayors have said that the scale and intensity of the violence have simmered down. 

"We don't want them to destroy shops, buses and schools," Nadia told BFM TV on Sunday. “They are using Nahel as an excuse. We want things to calm down,” she added. The grandmother of the teenager also emphasised that she is confident that the police officer who killed her child will be punished just like everyone else. Nadia told the French news outlet that while she resents the men who killed her grandson, she does not resent all other police officers in the country. She made it clear that she still has faith in the country’s justice system. 

France protests simmer overnight

France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that demonstrations across the country have simmered on the fifth day of the protests. He also revealed that the police made around 400 arrests overnight. “Quieter night thanks to the resolute action of the police who have made 427 arrests since the start of the evening,” Darmanin wrote on Twitter. While things have been less intense on the fifth day, the cost of the unrest cannot be ignored. According to the French Interior Ministry, more than 40 officers were injured, 577 vehicles torched, 74 buildings set on fire and 871 fires lit in streets and other public spaces. “Forty-five thousand police officers and thousands of firefighters were mobilised to enforce the order. Their actions … made for a quieter night,”  the ministry further added in the statement, as per the report by The Guardian. 

Who is Nahel? 

The death of the 17-year-old Nahel sparked riots in cities across France and especially in the town of Nanterre. The teenager of Algerian descent was the only child and worked as a takeaway delivery driver. He was fatally shot in the chest on Tuesday morning while at the wheel of a Mercedes car. He was stopped by the police because he was driving off during a traffic police check. The whole ordeal triggered massive protests and riots-like situations across the country. In response to this incident, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the killing of the young boy was “inexplicable and inexcusable”.  “Nothing justifies the death of a young person,” he told reporters in Marseille on Wednesday.