neighborhoodsnahels mother identified as mounia m told france 5 television that shes angry at the officer who killed her only child but not at the police in general he saw a little arablooking kid he wanted to take his life she saidshe called on justice to be very firma police officer cannot take his gun and fire at our children take our childrens lives she saidnahels grandmother who was not identified by name told algerian television ennahar tv her family has roots in algeriaalgerias foreign affairs ministry said in a statement thursday that grief is widely shared in the north african countryantiracism activists renewed complaints about police behaviorwe have to go beyond saying that things need to calm down said dominique sopo head of the campaign group sos racisme the issue here is how do we make it so that we have a police force that when they see blacks and arabs dont tend to shout at them use racist terms against them and in some cases shoot them in the headrace was a taboo topic for decades in france which is officially committed to a doctrine of colorblind universalism but some increasingly vocal groups argue that this consensus conceals widespread discrimination and racismdeadly use of firearms is less common in france than in the united states although 13 people who didnt comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by french police last year this year another three people including nahel have died under similar circumstances the deaths have prompted demands for more accountability in france which also saw protests against racial injustice after george floyds killing by police in minnesotain nanterre a peaceful march thursday afternoon in honor of nahel was followed by escalating confrontations with smoke billowing from cars and garbage bins set ablazetensions rose in places across france throughout the day in the usually tranquil pyrenees town of pau in southwestern france a molotov cocktail was thrown at a police office national police said vehicles were set on fire in toulouse and a tramway train was torched in a suburb of lyon police said some towns such as clamart on the french capitals southwest suburbs and neuillysurmarne in the eastern suburbs imposed precautionary overnight curfewsbus and tram services in the paris area shut as a precaution and many tram lines remained shut for friday morning rush hourthe unrest extended as far as belgiums capital brussels where about a dozen people were detained during scuffles related to the shooting in france and several fires were brought under controlprache the nanterre prosecutor said officers tried to stop nahel because he looked so young and was driving a mercedes with polish license plates in a bus lane he allegedly ran a red light to avoid being stopped then got stuck in trafficboth officers said they drew their guns to prevent him from fleeing the officer who fired the shot said he feared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car according to prachethe scenes in