On the 3rd of July 22 year old Aboubakar Fofana was killed by a single bullet to the neck. He was shot dead close range by the French police conducting traffic controls. Although the scene was captured on video and many witnesses reported otherwise, the police, at first, attempted to cover up this unprovoked execution arguing he would have run over a police officer and the murder would be justified. As this is a bland lie many do not believe, Nantes has now seen three days of massive riots denouncing the murderous police.
22 year old Aboubakar was allegedly under surveillance in a drug-trafficking investigation when the rented Nissan he was driving was stopped by police in the Breil district at around 8.30pm on Tuesday. Supposedly, he would have not been able to produce his papers but instead drove backwards with his car, running over a police man. This story hover has been disproven by video footage taken of the incidents by residents of the neighbourhood. Hence the anger of the people boiled over once more, as the police first shoots a young man from a proletarian neighbourhood without provocation and then – like always – attempts to cover their murder as “necessary degree of violence”.
For three days now Nantes has not come to rest and especially the pigs must be on their heels, as they were ambushed in the past days with stones and petrol bombs being thrown at them. More then 50 cars were set ablaze in the past days. In order to cope at least partially with the situation, the French repression has now drawn forces together from all over the country, to quell the struggles against the police in Nantes. However, already, the struggle has spread to other parts of France. Likewise in the region of Paris where Aboubakar has lived many years clashes with the police erupted after the murder of Aboubakar became known.
