French community pays tribute to teen killed by police, amid political and racial tensions

NANTERRE, France (AP) — A year after a French teenager of North African origin was killed by police – a shooting that sparked shock and days of rioting across France – his mother is leading a silent march on Saturday to pay tribute to his son.

This announcement comes at a politically tense moment. Hate speech is marring the campaign for early parliamentary elections this weekend, and an anti-immigration party that wants to strengthen police powers to use their weapons and has historic links to racism and Anti-Semitism is leading the polls.

Family members and friends gathered in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, to pay tribute to Nahel Merzouk, 17, who was shot at close range by a police officer during a traffic stop on June 27, 2023. Hours after his death, Merzouk, a delivery driver from a working-class neighborhood, became a symbol. For many in France, he embodied young black and North African French men who, according to studies, face police stops and discrimination more often than their white counterparts.

“United in our quest for justice and truth. Nahel will not be forgotten. The fight will resonate through our footsteps and our voices,” Nahel’s loved ones said in an Instagram message. Only his mother Mounia and those close to him are expected to speak publicly during the march, and they want to avoid any politicization or tension on the eve of the legislative elections.

On Sunday, French voters will vote in the first round of snap elections for the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, which could lead to the country's first far-right government since the Nazi occupation of World War II.

French opinion polls suggest the National Rally could dominate the next parliament after the July 7 runoff and secure the prime minister's post. In this scenario, centrist President Emmanuel Macron would retain the presidency until 2027, but in a significantly weakened role.

“This march, which is taking place now, is a strong symbol,” said Assa Traoré, who has been fighting for justice since the death of her brother Adama in police custody in 2016.

“This means that history cannot be written without us. We, from working-class neighborhoods, are the first victims of these elections. We understood very early on that the National Rally and the far-right parties represented a danger for our country and were going to weaken it,” said this 39-year-old man of Malian origin who will march alongside Merzouk's family.

Merzouk’s death, caught on video, has reignited long-simmering tensions between police and youth from deprived housing projects and suburbs, many of them French-born and immigrant. Fueled by TikTok, the riots spread with unprecedented speed before a massive police crackdown. The unrest caused more than $1 billion in damage, according to French authorities.

The officer who fired the shot claimed self-defense, and a far-right figure launched a crowdfunding campaign for the officer that raised $1.6 million before it was shut down.

Citing security problems, particularly in cities and other disadvantaged neighborhoods in French suburbs, the National Rally (RND) wishes to give a new specific legal status to the police. If the police use their weapons during an intervention, they will be presumed to have acted in self-defense. Currently, police officers have the same legal status as all French citizens and must prove that they acted in self-defense.

The left-wing coalition New Popular Front wants to ban the use of certain police weapons and dismantle a notoriously harsh police unit.

“People are afraid of the National Rally's victory. But we, the people of working-class neighborhoods, are afraid every day that our sons, brothers or husbands will be killed. Racism and racial profiling are our daily lives,” Traoré said.

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Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.

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Jade Le Deley, Associated Press