She called for a silent march in tribute to her son, and hopes to be heard despite a political context as heavy as the sky of Ile-de-France this Saturday, June 29. Mounia Merzouk, the mother of young Nahel, arrived on the Charles-de-Gaulle esplanade, in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) from where a crowd of at least 500 people had just set off, around 2 p.m. The procession planned to take Boulevard Pesaro to go to Place Nelson-Mandela, where the young man lost his life.
On June 27, 2023, Nahel Merzouk, then aged 17, was killed by a police officer during a road check, while he tried to leave behind the wheel of a yellow vehicle. The scene, filmed by onlookers and showing a police officer shooting the young man at point-blank range, had undermined the initial version of the police. Widely distributed, these images sparked a massive wave of indignation across the country.
Nahel’s death had set Nanterre and other working-class neighborhoods in the Paris region ablaze, before the protests spread throughout the country. The situation had quickly turned into urban riots, with numerous clashes between police and rioters, as well as acts of vandalism and looting. These events highlighted the persistent tensions between the police and young people in the neighborhoods, rekindling debates on police violence, racism, and the management of the police.
