Father of man killed in Trappes racist attack urges fight against racism

Bolema Bossio Wangi, the father of a man killed in a racist attack in the Paris region last month, said on Monday that a planned national tribute to the victims must be more than a moment of mourning. His daughter Ambre Bossio Wangi read his statement at a Paris news conference, because he was too emotional to speak himself, Le Monde and 20 Minutes reported.

His son, Pengo Bossio Wangi, 26, was killed on 23 October during an attack in Trappes and the neighbouring town of La Verrière, in the Yvelines department west of Paris. Seven other people were wounded, several of African or North African origin, according to 20 Minutes. A 39-year-old suspect, named only as Kévin T., was charged last Thursday and remanded in custody.

Bossio Wangi said he grew up in France in the 1980s and 1990s amid racist violence against North African and Black people, and said he never expected his own son to be killed decades later "by someone driven by the same hatred." He said he and Pengo's mother had chosen to trust the French justice system despite their anger and grief, and that racism in France had been fuelled by some media outlets and political parties.