The President caused outrage among the French people as he attended Sir Elton’s concert in Paris on Wednesday night, according to The Telegraph, while citizens rioted over a fatal police shooting that led to the death of teenager Nahel M.
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President Macron, 45, and Brigitte, 70, have since been pictured backstage alongside Sir Elton, 76, and his husband Furnish, 60, following the show.
His schmoozing with the pop icon has left the general public outraged, with Thierry Mariani, an MEP for National Rally, speaking out against the President.
‘While France was on fire, Macron was not at the side of his minister of the interior or the police but he preferred to applaud Elton John,’ he said, as reported by The Spectator.
The teenage boy, known only as Nahel M, was shot and killed by police during a traffic stop in the town of Nanterre, just west of Paris, on Tuesday, June 27.
A reported statement from the French police said Nahel M had threatened to run them over but a team of three lawyers for the family rejected that, citing a video of the incident that was spread widely.
A video then started circulating on social media showing the officer pointing a gun at the driver of a car, the driver appears to pull off before a gunshot is heard and the car crashes to a stop. It has since been verified by AFP news agency.
AFP news agency reports that a person in the video can be heard saying: ‘You’re going to be shot in the head’. But it is unclear who says it.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said the action of the officer ‘raises questions’.
Since the killing, a number of French towns have seen three nights of riots, with at least 667 people being arrested according to the French interior minister Gerald Darmanin.
There are reports in local media that violence has spread to the Belgian capital of Brussels.
This is the second fatal shooting by French police at traffic stops this year. Last year, there were a record 13 deaths during police traffic stops in France, after three in 2021 and two in 2020.
Nahel’s mother, who asked not to be named, has spoken about the heartbreaking loss of her son.
‘I lost a 17-year-old, I was alone with him, and they took my baby away from me. He was still a child, he needed his mother,’ she said.
His Grandmother, who also spoke anonymously, said she will ‘never forgive’ the people behind Nael’s death.
‘I will never forgive them. My grandson died, they killed my grandson. We are not happy at all, I am against the government,’ she said.
‘They killed my grandson, now I don’t care about anyone, they took my grandson from me, I will never forgive them in my life, never, never, never.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted representatives for Sir Elton John, David Furnish, President Emmanuel Macron, and Brigitte Macron for comment.
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