A French police union has deleted a tweet after French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that he will take legal action against the killing of a 17-year-old delivery driver by police in a Paris suburb.
“#Nanterre Congratulations to the colleagues who opened fire on a young 17-year-old criminal. By neutralizing his vehicle, they protected their lives and the users of the road," said the group called “ France Police” in the deleted tweet.
“The only one responsible for the death of this thug are his parents, unable to educate their son," they added in the tweet.
Darmanin requested an official report through Pharos, the web platform of the French Ministry of the Interior, which allows Internet users to report online hate messages published on social networks, and plans to involve the Public Prosecutor of Paris under Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
"The small group France Police, which is in no way a representative union of the national police ... published an unacceptable and abject tweet," Darmanin said in a statement.
He also ordered his services to explore options for dissolving the syndicate.
Call for calm
Branding the overnight clashes "unjustifiable", President Emmanuel Macron told a crisis meeting of ministers on Thursday that the coming hours and an afternoon march in memory of Nahel in Nanterre should be marked by "contemplation and respect".
Nahel was shot dead by police after he broke traffic laws and failed to stop, according to prosecutors.
His death sparked protests in different cities of France, leading to overnight clashes between demonstrators and police.
At least 150 people were arrested following the confrontations after people took to the streets in several parts of the country including Nanterre, Lyon, Lille, Toulouse and Viry-Chatillon over the death of Nahel in Nanterre early on Tuesday.
They set fire to vehicles, bins and public property in some areas. In the cities of Toulouse and Lille, protesters threw rocks at police officers, who responded with tear gas to disperse them.
The 38-year-old police officer who killed Nahel was detained by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) as part of the investigation into the intentional homicide by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office.
