Fundraising campaign for French police officer who shot teenager tops donations given to victim's family

A campaign, that was initiated to collect funds for the family of the French police officer, who shot dead 17-year-old, Nahel, topped 1.47 million euros ($1.6 million) on Tuesday, exceeding 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 who supported Eric Zemmour's 2022 presidential run, 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.

As per news agency Reuters reports, the leftwing politicians deemed the fundraiser 'shameful', whereas the far right defended the police force, saying that in the low-income suburbs of French cities, police are the daily target of violence.

For far-right national rally party Jordan Bardella this crowdfunding has received a lot of support because "the French don't mix up one man's mistake with the situation of his family".

The fundraising pledges for Nahel's family stood at 360,000 euros.

Macron in meeting of mayors says 'peak' of riots has passed

French President Emmanuel Macron during a meeting of mayors on Tuesday said the peak of riots had passed. However, he added he was still cautious to call an end to the violence.

"Is it a permanent return to calm? I will be cautious, but the peak that we've seen in previous days has passed," Macron said, according to a report by news agency AFP.

Macron had met with hundreds of French officials on Tuesday to get to the depth of the reason behind the country's descent into violence after a teenager was shot dead by the police in the Paris suburb of Nanterre for fleeing a traffic check.

The meeting with 302 mayors of towns where rioting took place came after authorities reported a much calmer night across the country.

"We all want a lasting, republican order," Macron said. "That's the absolute priority."

At the gathering of mayors, Macron was hoping to "start the painstaking, long-term work needed to understand the deeper reasons that led to these events", an official at the president's office said.

Macron pitched the idea of handing out quick-fire fines to the parents of children caught for destruction or theft.

"With the first crime, we need to find a way of sanctioning the families financially and easily," he said, according to comments reported by the Parisien newspaper.

Around 150 people were arrested overnight across France in connection with the violent protests that broke out since the killing of a 17-year-old teenager by a police officer at a traffic stop, said the interior ministry, on Monday (July 3). Meanwhile, France’s mayors called on the public and elected officials to hold a rally against the nearly week-long riots.

The government deployed up to 45,000 police officers onto the streets across the country overnight on Sunday to quell the unrest. The unrest follows the fatal shooting of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager of North African descent, on Tuesday, by a police officer at a traffic stop.

In a statement on Monday, an association of the country’s mayors said that “everywhere in France is the scene of serious unrest, which targets republican symbols with extreme violence.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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