Nahel M; who was the seventeen year old shot by French police leading to days of rioting in the country?

France continues to be gripped by violent clashes between French police and protestors in the city of Paris, after the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old prompted widespread condemnation across the country. 

Both actor Omar Sy and French footballing prodigy Kylian Mbappe have both expressed support for Nahel M, the victim of the shooting, along with his family receiving support from rapper Jul -who Nahel recently appeared as an extra for in a music video.

The shooting of the unarmed Nahel M at a traffic stop has led to a wider conversation taking place in France once again about the treatment of young Algerian or Arabic French people; Nahel's ethnic background was not initially disclosed, but the public quickly recognized him as a person of North African descent and the news was picked up on in Algeria when the country's foreign ministry called him an Algerian "national." 

His mother is from Algeria, a former French colony known for contributing to immigration from North Africa to France, Nahel grew up in a Parisian suburb called Nanterre, specifically on an estate called Pablo Picasso - an area that has become almost a de facto home for immigrants coming into France.  

The shooting of Nahel's has been seen as another example of the treatment of young men from Arab and African backgrounds by the police, and is the second widespread set of riots to occur in France this year, following from the civil disobedience that took place during the pension reform riots back in January.

What do we know about Nahel M?

Raised by his mother in a single-parent household and never meeting his father, Nahel M was called a “quiet boy” by neighbours at the Pablo Picasso estate in Nanterre, and although he had dropped out of school was never considered a significant criminal figure. Instead, Nahel worked as a delivery man and was also involved in a sports integration program focused on rugby and though had no criminal record, did have a habit of refusing to pull over for police stops. 

According to the BBC, Nahel had spent the past three years playing rugby for the Pirates of Nanterre rugby club while also being part of an integration program run by an association called Ovale Citoyen, which aimed to support teenagers struggling in school. Nahel was involved in an apprenticeship program to become an electrician, with Jeff Puech, the president of Ovale Citoyen, describing Nahel as a "kid who used rugby to get by" and praised his exemplary attitude.

Nahel had been subjected to multiple police checks since 2021, involving incidents of refusing to comply with orders to stop. He had faced disciplinary measures and issues related to cars, such as driving without a licence or insurance and using false number plates and had been detained recently for refusing to comply with police orders during stops and was scheduled to appear before a juvenile court in September.

However, it was his ride on June 27 2023 that would lead to his death and the outpouring of emotion and vitriol throughout France. At the time of the shooting, Nahel was driving a Mercedes with Polish number plates, had two passengers, and no driver's licence, which would have led to the reluctance to pull over at police stops.

The officer who shot Nahel has been put under formal investigation over voluntary homicide and is being held in prison in preventive detention. Under the French legal system, being placed under formal investigation is akin to being charged in the UK, while the family's lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, stated that this case is about justice rather than racism, criticising the culture of impunity in France that protects police officers.

Emmanuel Macron had denied there is systemic racism in French law enforcement agencies, but history has an unfortunate way of reminding people of the racism that still is alive in France. The shooting has drawn parallels to  2005 events involving Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré, who were electrocuted while fleeing from the police.