A HEARTBROKEN mum of a teen rapper killed on a stolen scooter during a police chase has spoken out amid raging migrant violence in a Swiss city.
Marvin M, aged 17, lost his life after crashing into a garage wall while evading police in the Prélaz neighborhood on Sunday — initiating violent unrest in Lausanne.
She told 24 Heures: “My son isn’t a scooter thief. He wasn’t a bandit, he wasn’t known to the law.
“He was never a complicated child. He was stable. We didn’t see a scooter stolen from home.”
She continued: “There was a group effect. They passed this scooter around among the kids. Who brought this scooter? We don’t know.”
The grieving mum from Algeria added: “Talking about it makes my stomach ache.”
His death has led to chaotic riots in the lakeside city, with young people setting fire to buses, throwing Molotov cocktails, and hurling stones at the police.
Fireworks, firebombs and burning barricades turned central streets into a warzone, with a bus left gutted and bins set alight.
Police fought back with water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets.
Seven arrests were made before calm was restored after midnight, Bild reported.
Lausanne authorities moved swiftly on Tuesday to try to head off a third night of violence, deploying extra resources and appealing for calm.
A preliminary report revealed Marvin was not hit by the police vehicle that was chasing him and suggests that the teen lost control before crashing.
Prosecutors stressed there was a “significant distance” between the teen and the police car, and “no contact” between them.
The probe also revealed that the young man was wearing a helmet, contrary to some allegations.
It also stated that the scooter Marvin was riding at the time of his death had been reported stolen the day before in Ouchy, on August 23.
Police previously revealed Marvin was driving at a high speed in a 18mph zone.
Marvin’s brother paid tribute to his younger sibling on Instagram.
He said: “You were supposed to be with me, at home, in our room that we always shared, my brother.
“We experienced everything together.”
Marvin belonged to a group called 2SeptG, and on their TikTok account his friend named MaKotazo spoke out publicly to calm things down.
“I see videos of burning trash cans, burning buses. I accept that you have to grieve on your own, but I think there are ways to do it.
“The way you’re acting doesn’t represent Marvin at all. Marvin wasn’t a violent person, he wasn’t scum.”
A police probe is still underway to investigate the exact circumstances of Marvin’s death.
Anger had already been simmering after a 14-year-old girl was killed in June while also fleeing police on a motorcycle.
One teen told outlet SRF: “We want to know the truth about the accidents.”
This incident marks the third death in less than three months in Lausanne during a police intervention and the seventh in the city and the broader Vaud region since 2016.
Five of those who died were men of African origin, fuelling claims of discrimination.
Marvin’s family deny he was a thief.
His friends described him as an aspiring rapper, saying violence on the streets was “not typical of Marvin”.
Rioters reportedly tried to attack an anti-immigration politician from the SVP party, according to Visegrád 24.
Another man was chased through the streets by a mob of 50 shouting “He’s a fascist!”, The Informant reported on X.
Police detailed the scale of the clashes saying on Sunday night “around 100 young people, wearing balaclavas” torched containers and damaged a bus.
On Monday, 150–200 rioters escalated the violence, blocking roads with burning trash and forcing officers to fire 54 tear gas grenades.
Lausanne’s security councillor Pierre-Antoine Hildbrand raged: “Pyrotechnic devices were used against the police; it’s scandalous.
“We are dealing with a movement that is unrelated to the young man’s death but is exploiting it as a pretext to attack law enforcement. It’s appalling.”
For decades, Switzerland avoided the migrant-fuelled unrest that has scarred its neighbours.
But Visegrád 24 warned Lausanne marks the country’s “first migrant riots,” saying cultural spillover from France’s no-go zones is taking hold.
Meanwhile, Lausanne’s police force faces a separate storm.
Racist, sexist and discriminatory messages exchanged in WhatsApp groups by current and former officers were uncovered by prosecutors.
Four officers have been suspended, with more suspensions expected.
Mayor Gregoire Junod said: “There is a systemic discrimination problem that needs to be addressed,” calling for a “cultural change” inside the force.
City officials expressed that they were “deeply shocked and outraged by these actions, which damage the credibility of the police as an institution and the essential trust between the community and the police.”
