F
or more than half a century, France has been shaken by numerous tragedies from violence involving police officers or gendarmes and young people of Arab or African descent. Yet few of these cases became as politically emblematic as that of Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old who died on July 19, 2016, at the gendarmerie north of Paris, after being stopped by a patrol seeking to check him and his brother Bagui, who was wanted for violent theft.
As a symbol of the debate surrounding the conduct of law enforcement and their oversight by the justice system, Traoré's death has also become a rallying point for activists focusing on police violence and racism, particularly around his sister Assa, who has become a controversial but influential figure in working-class neighborhoods. The energy dedicated to defending the case and the Truth and Justice for Adama Committee has kept the crucial issue of youth-police interactions in the public eye.
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'Why did they run from the police?': 20 years after two French teens' deaths, the question is as relevant as ever
