Shooting in France
A police killing was caught on video. Long-running tensions over law enforcement’s treatment of minorities sparked protests and riots. Demand for accountability. Events in France, following the death of a 17-year-old boy shot by police in a suburb of Paris, are running parallel to racial discrimination in the US fueled by the killings of George Floyd and other people of color. Law enforcement.
Despite differences between the two countries’ cultures, police forces and communities, the shootings in France and the outcry this week have exposed that America is not alone in its struggle with systemic racism and police brutality. Which happens when you are French but of foreign origin.
We are not considered French, and they only look at the color of our skin, where we come from, even if we were born in France,” said SOS Racisme activist Tracey Ladzi. “Racism within the police kills, and a lot of them hold far-right views so…it has to stop.”
In an editorial published this week, French newspaper Le Monde wrote that recent events are “reminders” that the 2020 killing of Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer sparked months of unrest in the US and internationally, including in Paris. category,” the paper wrote.
The French teen, identified as Nahel, was shot on Tuesday during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. The video showed two officers at the window of the car, one of whom pointed a gun at the driver.
As the teenager sped away, the officer fired a single shot through the windshield. Nahel’s grandmother, who did not identify herself by name, told Algerian television Ennaher TV that her family has roots in Algeria.
Shooting in France
Initial charges of voluntary manslaughter were filed against the officer accused of pulling the trigger, although this did little to quell the riots that spread across the country and resulted in hundreds of arrests. A prosecutor said the officer said he feared he and his aide or someone else might be hit by the car as Nahel tried to escape.
The officials have not disclosed the caste of the officer. His lawyer said that he did what he felt was necessary at the moment. Speaking on French TV channel BFMTV, the lawyer said the officer was “devastated”, adding that “he really didn’t mean to kill.” Nahel’s mother, identified as Mounia M, told France 5 television she was not angry with the police.
Common. She is furious at the officer who killed her only child. “He saw a little boy who looked like an Arab. He wanted to kill himself. Driver after a series of terrorist attacks using vehicles. Officers may fire upon a vehicle when a driver fails to obey an order and when the driver’s actions are likely to endanger his or her life or that of others.
The French police have also been regularly criticized for their violent tactics. Unlike the US, France keeps no data on race and ethnicity as part of its doctrine of colour-blind universalism – an approach which claims to see everyone as equal citizens. Critics say the theory has hidden generations of systemic racism. Shooting in France .
“I can’t think of any country in Europe with more chronic or dangerous problems of police racism, brutality and impunity,” said Paul Hirschfield, director of the criminal justice program at Rutgers University. , said about Shooting in France.
Hirschfield has published several papers comparing policing practices and homicides in the US to those of other countries. Experts said video of the shooting — which appeared to contradict initial police statements that the teen was driving toward the officer — prompted politicians to quickly condemn the killing. , French President Emmanuel Macron called the shooting “inexcusable” even before charges were filed against the officer.
This is nothing new to Americans, who had seen many videos of violent police encounters even before the harrowing footage of George Floyd’s death under a Minneapolis police officer’s knee. Witnesses were often cross-examined and at times contradicted the initial statements of the police.
“I have not seen a case where the interior minister has been so quick to condemn the shootings. There was unrest in the previous killings, but there was no video. It changes everything,” Hirschfield said. Police in France typically undergo training lasting about 10 months, which is longer than in many American cities, but has one of the shortest training requirements in Europe.
However, experts said they do not believe French police receive training that is equivalent to the implicit bias training required of many American police officers as part of an effort to reform policing in various communities, although many American critics have The effectiveness of the training has been questioned.
African, Arab and Asian populations are growing in France and other European countries. “If you are in a country with a colonial past, it is a stigma. And if it’s so traumatic that you can’t handle that conversation about race, you certainly won’t have relevant training for officers,” says Stacey Kesey, co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity, who works on the law.
United Nations International Expert Mechanism for Advancing Racial Justice and Equality in Enforcement. Bertrand Cavalier, a former commander of France’s national gendarmerie training school, said French law enforcement should not be judged by an officer’s actions. “This case is about a police officer who made a mistake and didn’t have to. But he was arrested, and I think this should be a clear message regarding the will of the government,” he said.
Yokepost.com
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