PARIS (HRNW) – A crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the family of the policeman who shot dead teenager Nahel M. in France topped 1.4 million euros ($1.5 million) on Tuesday, outstripping donations to his victim’s family and drawing anger from a swathe of French society.
The fallout from the death, and from the wave of rioting it triggered in France’s poor suburbs, continued to dominate political debate, with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne advocating in parliament a crackdown on young rioters and their parents.
President Emmanuel Macron hosted a meeting with 302 mayors of towns where rioting took place and told them violence was subsiding.
“Will the return to calm last? I would be prudent, but the peak that we experienced these past few days is over,” he was quoted as saying by a participant.
After listening to a range of views from the mayors, he said some humility was necessary as there was no consensus emerging on how best to respond to everything that had happened.
The fundraising effort on behalf of the officer who shot dead Nahel M. a week ago was launched on the GoFundMe platform by far-right media personality Jean Messiha, who received more than 72,000 private donations.