France teen's family tell BBC police use of lethal force must change

A comparative of the French teen changeable by constabulary has told the BBC the household did not privation his decease to spark riots, but insisted the instrumentality astir lethal unit astatine postulation stops indispensable change.

Nahel M was changeable point-blank by constabulary aft failing to halt for a postulation cheque past Tuesday.

"We ne'er called for hatred oregon riots," the comparative said.

France has seen 5 days of convulsive rioting.

Speaking to the BBC adjacent the household location successful Nanterre, the comparative said the rioting - which has seen thousands arrested, shops looted and hundreds of vehicles acceptable alight crossed France - did not honour Nahel's memory.

"We didn't inquire to interruption oregon steal. All of this is not for Nahel," they told the BBC, speaking connected information of anonymity.

They said they had called for a "White March successful the street. Walking successful representation of Nahel. Walking, adjacent being aggravated successful the street, demonstrating, but without outbursts."

The comparative said French authorities indispensable present alteration the instrumentality that allows constabulary officers to sprout during postulation stops.

Nahel's comparative called for "better grooming for the French police, weapons regularisation for police, and reviewing the instrumentality that allows constabulary to usage lethal unit if a young idiosyncratic refuses to postulation astatine a postulation stop".

France's penal codification was changed successful 2017 to let for a broader usage of firearms aft constabulary said they were facing accrued levels of violence.

Critics reason the summation successful postulation related shootings is simply a nonstop effect of that change, which they accidental is overmuch excessively vague due to the fact that it leaves officers to find whether the driver's refusal to comply poses a risk.

So acold this year, 3 radical person been killed during constabulary postulation stops - with a grounds 13 radical killed successful postulation halt incidents past twelvemonth and according to Reuters quality bureau astir of those victims person been of achromatic of Arab origin.

Anais, a household person and neighbour besides told the BBC that being a young achromatic antheral successful France's suburbs meant being taxable to racism, unit and radical profiling connected a regular basis.

"They [the police] humiliate, insult and don't talk decently to them. And present they termination them! Nahel was covered by the press, but it's not the archetypal clip this has happened," she said.

Nahel's comparative said arsenic a effect of the ongoing chaos, the household had not had a infinitesimal to beryllium down unneurotic and retrieve him.

"We privation everything to calm down. Social media, riots, everything needs to calm down. With each of this, we haven't had clip to beryllium down for 5 minutes unneurotic and deliberation astir however he's gone now," they said.

Earlier connected Sunday, Nahel's grandma besides called for an extremity to the unit and accused rioters of utilizing Nahel's decease arsenic an excuse.

""Don't destruct the schools, don't destruct the buses. It is different mothers who instrumentality these buses," Nadia, Nahel's grandmother, told BFMTV.