Grandmother of French teen slain by cops asks rioters to stop

The grandmother of the French teenager shot dead by police during a traffic stop is pleading with rioters to stop, as the nation faces a sixth straight night of unrest.

The grandmother of 17-year-old Nahel, identified only as Nadia, says in a telephone interview with French news broadcaster BFM TV, “Don’t break windows, buses… schools. We want to calm things down.”

She says she is angry at the officer who killed her grandson, but not at the police in general and expresses faith in the justice system, as France faces its worst social upheaval in years. Her grandson, identified by only his first name, was buried on Saturday.

The violence appears to be lessening. But as a new night approaches, the office of Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin says 45,000 police officers will again be deployed in the streets to counter anger over discrimination against people who trace their roots to former French colonies and live in low-income neighborhoods. Nahel is of Algerian descent and was shot in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

President Emmanuel Macron was expected to hold a special security meeting Sunday night, and it is not clear whether he will make public comments. Macron has delayed what would have been the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, starting Sunday evening.