France Afire
Riots have erupted in suburban areas of Paris and are escalating. Rioters (quaintly identified as "youths") have begun shooting at police with shotguns. So far some 82 police officers have been injured, four with serious wounds caused by buckshot.
VILLIERS LE BEL (AFP) – A second night of riots by youths in a Paris suburb left more than 80 police injured, buildings gutted and France on Tuesday facing heightened tensions in towns north of the capital.
Late into the night, around 100 young men again hurled petrol bombs and bricks at police in the town of Villiers le Bel, where on Sunday two teenagers were killed in a motorbike collision with a police car.
Faced with the worst eruption of urban violence since the riots of 2005, President Nicolas Sarkozy was to chair a special meeting on the unrest on Wednesday, after returning from a state visit to China.
The president was also to meet the families of the victims, aged 15 and 16, at the Elysee palace Wednesday morning.
Monday night's violence left several buildings damaged by fire in Villiers, just north of Paris, including a tax office, a supermarket, a library and a nursery school, as well as 63 vehicles. Six people were arrested during the troubles, which lasted about six hours, police said.
A report from Le Monde newspaper described boys as young as 13 taking orders from their elders to torch buildings and forming battle ranks against the police, vowing to "do in" a "pig" — a police officer.
A some point 'riot' becomes 'insurrection'. The French may have one on their hands at the moment. Gateway Pundit has a large roundup of links, photos and video of the night's festivities.
World news | Gaius November 27, 2007
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Public Secrets: from the files of the Irishspy — November 27, 2007 @ 11:49 am
By sam, November 27, 2007 @ 12:57 pm
I have to admit that I don’t understand the dynamics of the situation in France, which is one reason it fascinates me so much. I don’t think that the same thing could happen in my city, as the tolerance of the local populace to looting and burning and rioting is much lower. If “youths” were throwing petrol bombs in my neighborhood, they would likely face homeowners armed with rifles and handguns. And that is assuming that the police and national guard didn’t round up the rioters first. Apparently the people in these French neighborhoods are unarmed and scared of the “youths”, and the French police are unwilling or unable to exert the force necessary to stop the rioting. I’m feel fortunate that it is across the ocean and far from me.
By martian, November 27, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
The interesting part of all this is that, according to all eyewitness accounts, the two teenagers who were killed in the accident with the Police vehicle were completely at fault – the Police vehicle was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been any vehicle. It was just bad luck they were cops. The result would have been the same no matter who was driving down that particular street at the time. Their deaths were not a result of any “Police” action – just their own lousy driving and stupidity!
All this is beside the point, however, when “youths” are looking for an excuse to riot – they’ll grab any excuse they think they can hang their banner on.