GoFundMe for Cop Who Shot French Teen Raises Far More Than Victim's Family

A GoFundMe campaign created in support of the French police officer who fatally shot Nahel Merzouk has eclipsed $1.4 million as of Monday evening—nearly four times the amount of a similar fundraiser started for Merzouk's mother.

Several cities across France have been engulfed in unrest and rioting following Merzouk's death last Tuesday. Merzouk was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop in Nanterre, a northwest suburb of Paris. A video of the 17-year-old's death was later posted to social media, directly contradicting police's initial claims that Merzouk had attempted to drive into the officers during the interaction.

The officer who drew his weapon against Merzouk, who was unarmed at the time, was detained on Thursday and placed under formal investigation by the Nanterre prosecutor's office on charges of voluntary homicide, reported The New York Times. Amid the violent riots largely led by teenagers, however, support has grown for the indicted officer online, including through a fundraising page started by far-right political commentator Jean Messiha.

As of Monday evening, the GoFundMe page for the French officer had raised over $1.4 million in four days, which Messiha said on the page is "for the family of the Nanterre policeman, Florian.M who has done his job and is now paying a high price."

At the time of publication, a similar fundraiser created for Merzouk's mother on the French crowdfunding site leetchi had raised roughly $342,147. According to the fundraiser's site, donations began on the day that Merzouk was shot.

"1 million euros. Their world is collapsing," Messiha tweeted Monday morning. "Ours is reborn. Thank you and well done!"

Several politicians have condemned the fundraiser set up for the Nanterre officer and have called on GoFundMe to delete the page, including Manon Aubry, member of the European parliament and representative of the left-wing party la France Insoumise.

"Nearly a million euros collected on the initiative of a far-right polemicist in support of a police officer who kills a teenager," Aubry tweeted Monday. "The message? It pays to kill a young Arab. And the government turns a blind eye."

A spokesperson for GoFundMe told Politico on Monday, however, that it has no intention of removing the controversial fundraiser, adding that it does not violate the platform's rules.

Thousands of people have been arrested during nearly a week of unrest following Merzouk's death, which has been marked by violent acts of looting, arson and clashes with police forces. Demonstrators and supporters of the riots say that the shooting is an example of a pattern of racism in French law enforcement.

But peaceful counterprotests began on Monday following an attack on the home of Vincent Jeanbrun, Parisian suburban mayor. According to a report from Reuters, while Jeanbrun was at the town hall on Sunday, rioters set a car on fire and launched fireworks at his wife and two young children as they attempted to flee from the attack. Jeanbrun said his wife and one of his children were hurt during the incident.

Relatives of Merzouk have called for an end to the violence, including a family member who told the BBC on Monday that they "never called for hate or riots."

"Walking in memory of Nahel," the family member told the British outlet. "Walking, even being angry in the street, demonstrating, but without outbursts."

Merzouk's grandmother, Nadia, told French broadcaster BFM TV on Sunday that rioters were using her grandson's death as "an excuse," adding, "I am tired."

"I can't take it anymore, I can't sleep, I turned off the TV, I turned everything off. I don't want to listen to this anymore," she said, according to a report from SkyNews that cited the BFM interview.

Newsweek has reached out to the French Ministry of the Interior and Overseas via email for comment.