‘He was everything to me’ – Mother lashes out at French cops who executed her 17-year-old son in Paris
A grief-stricken mother has lashed out at French cops who ‘executed’ her 17-year-old son, sparking riots across Paris.
French-Algerian delivery driver Nael M., 17, was gunned down at the wheel of a Mercedes in the western suburb of Nanterre, sparking a night of anarchy in the French capital. President Emmanuel Macron described the shooting as ‘inexcusable’.
‘He was everything to me, and that son of a b***h shot him,’ his devastated mother said.
In a video shared on Instagram, she said: ‘He gave me a big kiss and told me he loved me, I told him to be careful, we left the house at the same time and went to McDonalds, then I went to work like everyone.
‘An hour later my son was shot. What do I do now? He was everything to me, and that son of a b***h shot him.
‘I only had one, he was my best friend, my son, we were so close, thank you all for your support, I don’t know what else to say.’
The killing lead to widespread anger that has prompted a state of heightened security, with officials saying 1,200 police were deployed overnight and 2,000 would be out in force Wednesday in the Paris region and around other big cities to ‘maintain order.’
Nael M‘s death, described by witnesses as ‘an execution’, was captured on video which quickly spread across social media, fuelling anger at the police after they initially tried to claim they opened fire after the driver rammed them with his car. In the clip, the officer is heard telling the teen: ‘I’m going to lodge a bullet in your head.’
Kylian Mbappe and prominent French footballers voiced their anger at the ‘execution’.
‘I hurt for my France,’ Mbappé, who grew up in the Paris suburb of Bondy and who plays for the city’s football club Paris Saint-Germain, wrote Wednesday in a Twitter message accompanied by broken hearts emojis.
‘Unacceptable situation. All my thoughts go to the family and loved ones of Naël, this little angel gone much too soon,’ he added.