Collection for French policeman dwarfs rival one for teenager he shot dead...

[dutchman]

Grandmother of teenager killed by officer says she is 'heartbroken' by €1m raised for his Gofundme appeal, five times the sum for his victim



A collection for a French policeman who provoked nationwide riots by shooting a teenager dead topped €1 million on Monday, dwarfing donations to the victim’s family.

More than 40,000 people have pledged money to the online appeal set up by a far-Right media commentator on the Gofundme.com website.

It easily outstripped the €200,000 gathered for the family of the dead 17-year-old, Nahel, who was of north African origin.

Nahel’s grandmother, Nadia, said she was “heartbroken” by the support shown for the policeman.

“He took the life of my grandson. This man must pay, the same as everyone,” she told the BFM channel on Sunday. “I have confidence in the justice system. I believe in justice.”

It comes amid signs French citizens are fighting back against rioters as the protests that have rocked the country appear to be subsiding after days of violent unrest.

Mothers and teachers have formed vigilante groups to defend French cities against rioters.

On Monday, French mayors urged the public and elected officials to hold rallies outside town halls to oppose the protests, in which rioters have looted shops, torched cars and attacked public buildings.

In a statement, an association of the country’s mayors said that republican symbols were the target of “extreme violence” everywhere in France and called for a “mobilisation of citizens” for a return to order.

Large crowds gathered from noon outside town halls in Chambéry, Cannes, Rennes, and the Paris suburb of L’Haÿ-les-Roses, where rioters ploughed a car into the mayor’s home and set it on fire overnight on Saturday.

In some areas, groups had already taken matters into their own hands in a bid to end the turmoil, while tens of thousands of police and gendarmes have already been deployed nightly to towns and cities throughout the country.

In the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Marne, a group of mothers has reportedly gathered every evening since the protests began to patrol the area’s streets and dissuade people from rioting.

There were also reports of vigilante groups operating in the western city of Lorient, where a band of two dozen young men identifying themselves as “anti-rioters” were rounding up protesters and handing them over to the police.

Ouest-France, a local newspaper, reported the group had extinguished fires and stopped an attack on a local hair salon, which had its windows smashed by three rioters.