A fund for the police officer presently under investigation for fatally shooting a 17-year-old, which sparked widespread protests across France, has surpassed $1 million in donations. A controversy has erupted over the collection, with protesters claiming that it now “pays to kill innocent teenagers.”
Jean Messiha, a former adviser to French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, started the GoFundMe effort, which has so far raised approximately $1.05 million (963,000 euros).
“Support for the family of the Nanterre policeman, Florian.M who has done his job and is now paying a high price. Support him MASSIVELY and support our law enforcement!” reads the description of the donation page which had an initial target of $55,000.
Notably, a comparable fund-raising effort for the family of Nahel Merzouk, the teenager shot by the French officer, only raised $218,000 – nearly five times less than Florian’s.
Politicians criticize the gathering of funds
The chairman of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, demanded that GoFundMe delete the fundraising, accusing the platform of “hosting a pot of shame.”
“You maintain an already gaping fracture by participating in support of a police officer indicted for intentional homicide. Close!” said Faure.
A similar demand was made by Manon Aubry, a France Unbowed MEP.
“More than a million euros collected on the initiative of a far-right polemicist [Messiha] in support of a police officer who kills a teenager. The message? It pays to kill a young Arab,” Aubry tweeted.
“Jean Messiha blows on the embers. It is a generator of riots. The pot of several hundred thousand euros for the police officer indicted in the homicide of young Nahel is indecent and scandalous,” wrote Eric Bothorel of the ruling Renaissance party.
GoFundMe is steadfast
Despite the public outcry, GoFundMe has stated that it will not remove the campaign because it did not breach any French laws. It said that the funds would not be used to pay for the officer’s legal bills or defense.
“The money will be directly given to the family, which has been added as a beneficiary,” a spokesperson for GoFundMe told the French magazine Capital.
Notably, French law forbids the “opening or public announcement of subscriptions to compensate for fines, costs, and damages awarded by judicial sentences in criminal and correctional matters.” If the regulation is broken, the penalty is six months in prison or a $50,000 fine.
In an attempt to restore calm, around 45,000 police officers are currently patrolling the streets of France with reinforcements consisting of specialized elite groups and armored vehicles.