France’s Emmanuel Macron weakened by crisis over teen’s killing

French youth clash with police forces in Nanterre, outside Paris. Pic/AP

Even in normal times Emmanuel Macron needed the help of allies in governing France. He had to convince politicians across the country's national assembly to support even minor domestic projects. Now, governing his already-polarized country has gotten close to impossible for Macron because a suburban police officer stopped a yellow Mercedes and fired a fatal shot into the 17-year-old driver's chest, setting off six days of tumult across the country.

Macron's far-right rivals, meanwhile, are emboldened. A controversial extreme-right figure started an online fundraising campaign for the family of the police officer who shot the teen, praising him as someone who "did his job and is paying a high price for it.'' The campaign quickly raised more than 1 million euros from tens of thousands of people, shocking many and prompting calls from antiracism groups and left-wing politicians for it to be shut down. The government fears it is fueling tensions.

Macron won his second five-year term last year with 58 per cent of the votes in a runoff with far-right leader Marine Le Pen, but his centrist Renaissance party lost its majority in parliament two months later. Le Pen's National Rally won a record number of seats.

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