The grandmother of the boy killed during a traffic stop in France has told news channel BFM TV in Nanterre she wants the riots to stop. Nahel M's grandmother Nadia has called for calm after a fifth night of unrest across France after her 17-year-old grandson was killed by the police. "We don't want them to destroy shops, busses and schools," Nadia told BFM TV. "They are using Nahel as an excuse", she said. "We want things to calm down". "My heart is in pain," she said about the money donated for the police officer who got arrested after shooting Nahel dead on Tuesday. But she said she has confidence that the police officer will be punished like everyone else. She also said that she "resents" the men who stopped and killed her grandson, but that doesn't mean that she hates all other police officers. "Fortunately, they are there," she said, emphasizing that she "believes in justice". During the BFM TV's interview Nadia said, "Nahel is dead, he's dead," adding, "My daughter is lost... She doesn't have a life anymore." She repeated her calls for calm and an end to the rioting, adding: "Don't destroy the schools, don't destroy the buses. They are other mothers who take these buses." She earlier said that the rioters were using Nahel's death as an excuse. Meanwhile, in a southern Paris suburb, attackers tried to set fire to the local Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun's home and fired rockets at the official's fleeing wife and children. After the ram-raid on the mayor's house in the L'Hay-les-Roses suburb of Paris, authorities are deploying 7,000 extra police officers in the capital and its inner suburbs tonight. France's Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne visited L'Hay-les-Roses, where the mayor's house was attacked, and said "no violence will go unpunished". In addition, the Association of Mayors of France has called for a rally of citizens and mayors tomorrow in support of Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun. Also, the mayor of Nanterre, Patrick Jarry, has now asked the people of Nanterre to hear the call from Nadia, respect the family and end the violence. "I know the anguish that a large number of residents of our city have shared over the past few nights with regard to the events experienced," he wrote in a press release. "I want to thank the family and loved ones who organized the funeral. Following this ceremony, the family called for an end to the violence. I ask all Nanterriens to carry this message," he added. Meanwhile, Kamal, a 70-year-old who has lived in the impoverished Lille suburb of Roubaix all his life, said he's concerned about the lack of solutions to solve France's social problems — "but violence is certainly not one of them." "Of course, there are huge social differences between neighborhoods so close to each other, but to obtain justice for such an unjust crime by destroying everything is incomprehensible," he said. "At the end of the day, people are destroying their own neighborhoods, their environment, annihilating their already limited resources," he added. Other residents, however, are still enraged at the police killing. Ahmed, a 34-year-old taxi driver, who was born in Algeria but has lived in France for most of his life said: "I am tired of racism, the police cannot treat us like this. What happened to that boy is impossible to accept. "Enough." — BBC
