France: Donations for policeman who shot dead teenager in Paris suburb halted

Donations for the French police officer, who shot dead 17-year-old Nahel in the Paris suburb of Nanterre for fleeing a traffic check triggering nationwide protests across the country, have been halted as the fund reached more than 1.6 million euros ($1.7 million).

French far-right media personality Jean Messiha, who was the one behind launching the initiative on GoFundMe.com, on Wednesday said that he had closed the campaign in accordance with the policeman's family as it had reached "a comfortable level".

An ultra-nationalist and former adviser to anti-immigration politicians Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour, Messiha launched the crowdfunding campaign last week sparking controversy and calls for GoFundMe to suspend the collection.

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The mother of the victim, Nahel M, who was shot dead by the French policeman last week, launched legal action against Messiha.

"A complaint has been lodged today for fraud by a group, misuse of personal data and conspiracy in these crimes against Jean Messiha and everyone identified in the investigation as taking part in these offences," her lawyer Yassine Bouzrou said in a statement, as quoted by news agency AFP.

Several left-wing lawmakers have also launched legal action in an attempt to close the fund.

Funds for French police officer top donations given to victim's family

The amount raised for the police officer exceeded the donations made to the teenager's family, sparking outrage among many French nationals.

The crowdfunding, which was launched on the US platform GoFundMe by French far-right media personality Jean Messiha, received more than 72,000 private donations.

"This police officer is the victim of a national witch-hunt and it is a disgrace," Messiha tweeted.

"The fact that it was someone close to the far right who launched this fund does not, without doubt, help to calm things down," said French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.

A video of the incident being circulated on social media showed two police officers beside the car, a Mercedes AMG, with one shooting as the driver pulled away.

Another teenager in the car has claimed the officers who stopped Nahel hit him with the butts of their pistols, and a voice can be heard on the video shouting: "You are going to get a bullet in the head."

Messiha said the fund was "a cry from French people to demand order, a cry of love for their security forces."

(With inputs from the agencies)

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