Mother of teen driver killed by French police officer alleges racial motivation in his death

The mother of a 17-year-old delivery driver who was shot and killed by a police officer earlier this week during a traffic check in a Paris suburb said Thursday that she believes her son's death was driven by racial motives.

Nahel M.’s mother, Mounia, said during an interview broadcast on the France 5 TV channel that the police officer "saw the face of an Arab, a little kid," and "wanted to take his life."

She said she did not want to blame the whole law enforcement institution but only the police officer who killed her son.

"I don't blame the police. I blame a person: the one who took my son's life," she said.

Nahel was shot dead by police on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre after he broke traffic laws and failed to stop, according to prosecutors.

The prosecutors said Thursday that the officer who killed Nahel has been charged with voluntary homicide and placed in pre-trial detention.

Laurent-Franck Lienard, the lawyer for the police, told BFMTV that his client is “devastated” and asks for “forgiveness from the family.”

“He doesn't get up in the morning to kill people. He didn't want to kill," he added.

Thursday evening was marked by tensions and clashes in Ile-de-France as well as in Marseille, Lille and in several other cities across France. The Interior Ministry said on Twitter that 100 people were arrested during these protests.

Protesters tried to burn down the town hall in Clichy in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, according to video footage circulated on social media.

A curfew was imposed in Meudon for the night from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m, said the mayor of the municipality, which is located 9.1 kilometers (5.6 miles) from the center of Paris.

Jean-Didier Berger, the mayor of Clamart commune, located 8.7 kilometers (5.4 miles) from the center of Paris, also decided to impose a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. until Monday.

Valerie Pecresse, president of the regional council of Île-de-France, also announced that bus and tram services in and around Paris were suspended after 9 p.m. on Thursday to protect employees and passengers.

Paris police have been authorized to use drones in the city and aslo in the departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne from Thursday evening until Friday morning at 6 a.m.

A police officer was injured and taken to the hospital in Marseille, according to a police source, and five people were arrested in the city.

In Lile, police arrested six people. Protesters set a van on fire and also trash bins in Toulouse.