June 27, 2023. Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris, shortly before 8 a.m. Two policemen on a motorcycle try to stop a car. The driver, 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, is obviously dangerous, driving erratically, barely avoiding people crossing the street. A 15-second video circulating on social networks shows the car stopped, with the two policemen aiming their weapons at Merzouk. One policeman, gun drawn, leans his elbow on the windshield. He tells Merzouk to turn off the engine and place his hands above his head. The car drives off. The policeman shoots at the car. Merzouk is shot and dies shortly after.
The police have witnesses, video surveillance, and data showing that the driver has been implicated five times for refusing to comply with police officers. He had been arrested a few weeks earlier for disorderly conduct against police and consumption and sale of narcotics, and was shortly to appear before a judge. He was only 17, too young even to have a French driver’s license.
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That day, he was driving a rented $90,000 Mercedes with fake Polish license plates. All of this information, apart from his age, was glossed over by the media and political leaders. The single video, filmed by a passerby on an iPhone and sent to the media, failed to show the entire incident.
Read more: Gatestone Institute
