Officer who killed a teen in a traffic stop performed at the Olympics opener

A police officer under investigation for voluntary manslaughter after killing a young man in Marseille in 2021, took part in the BMX demonstration during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on Friday, July 26, 2024.

Issam El Khalfaoui didn't expect to receive this special call from his sister during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. She told him that the police officer who killed her son in Marseille in 2021 was on television, showing off his BMX skills to viewers around the world.

In August 2021, Souheil, El Khalfaoui's 19-year-old son, was shot dead by a police officer in training during a traffic stop in the city of Marseille, in the south of France. The investigation was closed for the first time in December 2021, then relaunched by a new complaint and entrusted to another jurisdiction. However, the investigations have not progressed for three years.

The police officer, Romain Devassine, is an amateur BMX rider who was among those performing on the Seine River during the Olympic opening ceremony, according to French media. The officer's lawyer and the Interior Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Following his sister's appeal, Issam El Khalfaoui decided to share his outrage with the digital news outlet Mediapart this week. The spokesperson for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games organizing committee, Anne Descamps, said on Tuesday that the opening ceremony artists were hired by an external production agency and that "the selection was based on their creative skills."

IGPN investigation documents indicate that Souheil El Khalfaoui endangered the life of another officer by backing up during a traffic stop. In response, Officer Devassine shot Souheil El Khalfaoui in the chest, killing him.

The family and their lawyers say the police's internal investigation was full of inconsistencies, including missing CCTV footage from four cameras in nearby shops, never questioned key witnesses and the officer not being arrested immediately but being released shortly after the killing, which is unusual in France.

" It's not just my story and that of my son ," said Issam El Khalfaoui in a column entitled " No Olympic truce for victims of police violence ," published by Mediapart.

The revelation of the officer's presence at the Olympic ceremony has rekindled anger and grief among other families of people killed by police.