A fundraiser for a French cop who shot and killed a 17-year-old outside Paris has surpassed $1 million – sparking a new wave of anger as nationwide protests proceed to rage.
The fund for the family of an unidentified French policeman is now 4 times greater than for the family of the victim Nahel Merzouk, The Independent reported on Monday.
“It’s an insult to Nahel’s family,” French lawyer Carole-Olivia Monteno told reporters. “It only intensifies hatred where there’s already an excessive amount of of it.
“It’s very inappropriate and politically irrelevant.”
Nahel’s fundraiser raised about $220,000 by Monday morning.
The fundraiser for the 38-year-old police officer was organized by Jean Messiha, a former adviser to the French far-right Polish woman Marine Le Pen. The officer has been charged with murder and is being held without bail.
![Protests in France.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013454081.jpg?w=1024)
![Nahel Merzouk, 17.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013516484-1.jpg?w=1024)
In response to GoFundMe, for him, he “pays the highest price today … for doing his job.”
Nahel, a Muslim delivery driver, was shot dead by police during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday, sparking mass protests which have swept across the country.
The shooting sparked long-term resentment against the authorities, particularly in lower-income neighborhoods where residents feel attacked by the police and discriminated against by the government.
![French police shot and killed Nahel Merzouk](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013542514.jpg)
At the height of the unrest on Friday night, French police arrested greater than 3,800 demonstrators, resulting in widespread looting and vandalism across the country. Mobs looted shops, set business and government buildings on fire, and set lots of of cars on fire.
Since then, the variety of arrests has fallen – from 719 overnight Saturday to Sunday to 160 from Sunday to Monday – despite lingering tensions and new demonstrations in Paris and beyond.
The riots presented a new challenge for struggling French president Emmanuel Macron, who had been the goal of mass protests earlier in the yr over his unpopular pension reforms – and who now needed to quell a new round of unrest ahead of next yr’s Paris Olympics.
![France in turmoil.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013539584.jpg?w=1024)
![Protests in France.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013436685.jpg?w=1024)
On Sunday, Nahel’s grandmother, identified as Nadia, called for calm amid the violence.
“I tell them to stop,” she told reporters. “Don’t destroy schools, don’t destroy buses. We wish the situation to calm down.”
Meanwhile, the Tour de France entered France on Monday without incident, despite earlier concerns from some athletes and team members that protests could hamper the competition.
With postal wires