French lawmaker demands dissolution of police unit involved in brutal repression of demonstrators

By Esra Taskin

PARIS (AA) - A French lawmaker demanded the dissolution Tuesday of the BRAVM-M unit of the police, blamed for brutal repression during recent demonstrations.

Thomas Portes called Interior Minister Gerald Dermanin "minister of police brutality" for banning a demonstration in Paris to remember Adama Traore who died in police custody in 2016.

“In Emmanuel Macron's France, neo-Nazi sympathizers and racists can march freely while anti-racist demonstrations are banned,” he said in parliament,

Protests rocked France late last month when a police officer fatally shot and killed Nahel M., 17, of Algerian descent, during a traffic check after he allegedly ignored orders to stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

Thousands took to the streets in France after Nahel's killing.

Vehicles and public buildings, including town halls and schools, were set on fire, and police arrested 4,000 people, mostly teens, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told the Senate last week.