French Youths Clash With Police
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AFP, June 15, 2008
Dozens of French youths clashed with police in a town in northeast France overnight, burning cars during a rampage triggered by the killing of a 22-year-old man, an official said on Sunday.
Two police officers, two firefighters and five residents suffered minor injuries during the violence that raged until Sunday morning in Vitry-le-Francois, said Sylvaine Astic from the regional prefect’s office.
Armed with baseball bats and firebombs, about 50 youths went on a rampage, torching cars and setting fire to garbage bins in the town of 17 000 people, Astic told AFP.
The violence started around 22:00 (20:00 GMT) after the 22-year-old man was gunned down in Vitry-le-Francois. A suspect was arrested overnight.
About 60 police officers were dispatched to the town late on Saturday and remained in Vitry-le-Francois on Sunday.
A police union issued a statement denouncing what it termed as “hysteria” in relations between French youth and police.
“This started out as a murderous settling of scores,” said Nicolas Comte of the SGP-FO police union.
“But quickly this tragic event prompted a violent group to attack police with baseball bats and molotov cocktails as young bystanders watched passively, like spectators to the ‘riot show’,” said Comte.
He linked the latest outbreak to the 2005 suburban riots, France’s worst unrest in decades, when poor immigrant-heavy areas around Paris and other major cities exploded into three weeks of violence.
“Nothing has been resolved since. The fire is still burning under the ashes,” said Comte.
About 250 people took part in a silent march in Vitry-le-Francois on Sunday, led by the victim’s mother who wept as she walked holding a photograph of her son through the low-income neighbourhood of Rome-Saint-Charles.
The last time there was major rioting was in the Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel in November when two teenagers riding a motorbike died after they collided with a police car. The incident led to three days of riots.
More than 100 police officers were injured in Villiers-le-Bel when rioters armed with hunting rifles and pellet guns opened fire, a new, worrisome turn in the ongoing clashes with police in the suburbs.
(Posted on June 19, 2008)
Comments
“French youths clash with police”,,,
They are not “youths” and they most certainly are not “French”.
Posted by at 8:43 PM on June 19
ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Where are you I have heard nothing in the news about riots in France. This shows how controlled our news is.
Posted by at 9:17 PM on June 19
He linked the latest outbreak to the 2005 suburban riots, France’s worst unrest in decades, when poor immigrant-heavy areas around Paris and other major cities exploded into three weeks of violence. “Nothing has been resolved since. The fire is still burning under the ashes,” said Comte.
………………………………………………
The French are like people in a house on fire and they cannot smell the smoke. And these constant outbreaks of rioting are like a smoldering fire within the wallls that cannot be put out. There’s going to be more and more of this — until finally there will be open revolt or civil war. It’s coming! Surely within the next twenty years, and probably much sooner. Maybe within five. And once France catches fire, all Europe will be ablaze.
All this is the result of starry-eyed Marxist notions that were peddled to them about brotherhood and immigration and the equality of races. And all so unnecessary! When Europe wasn’t broken, why did they have to go and “fix” it?
Posted by ghw at 9:50 PM on June 19
“More than 100 police officers were injured in Villiers-le-Bel when rioters armed with hunting rifles and pellet guns opened fire, a new, worrisome turn in the ongoing clashes with police in the suburbs.”
As I wrote before several times, I’m surprised one of the larger Muslim organizations hasn’t already shipped arms and ammunition to these fellow Muslims.
That may well change if France supports a boycott of Iran or issues harsh statements in oposition to Hezbullah or one of the other larger groups.
These rabble rousers with adequate fire power will turn the nation into a congflagration, and I can’t think of any nation more deserving of experiencing first hand the results of their much lauded diversity programs.
It will be a model to show the rest of Europe what they can expect as well.
Posted by Robert Kelly at 9:59 PM on June 19
What can good conservative French citizens do? They are grossly outnumbered by neo-liberals in an environment they didn’t vote for?
I don’t blame them for standing back and watching. I would too. Let the government and the libs deal with the problem. They created it.
Posted by Unemployed WASP at 10:56 PM on June 19
This area wouldn’t happen to be a black area of Paris would it? this sounds far to much like Compton and Watts, areas I have lived in. This always happened when one of the “yutes” had a run in with the police and just gave the local blacks a reason to riot. The good side is that they seem to enjoy burning and looting the shops owned by blacks. Less casualties would occur if the police and media would just stay away.
Posted by Skip at 12:23 AM on June 20
You reap what you sew.
Somehow, a few years ago, some French liberals thought it would be a good idea to bring in a few Muslims. You know, after all, France was entirely too White.
Since then, it proved to not be such a good idea, but not after the damage was done.
Why oh WHY don’t they learn the lessons about the lies of multiculturalism from other European(and American) countries where it has failed?
Posted by D. Andrews at 2:05 AM on June 20
More than 100 police officers were injured in Villiers-le-Bel when rioters armed with hunting rifles and pellet guns opened fire, a new, worrisome turn in the ongoing clashes with police in the suburbs
These minor things are nothing compared to the violence that will ensue after the Muslims start getting large numbers of AK-47s into the hands of the “religion of peace and tolerance”
Posted by Skip at 4:49 AM on June 20
Muslims in France already have the necessary military weaponry that will be used against the French authorities when the time is right: military rifles, automatic weapons, RPGs, grenades, you name it. Whatever they don’t have can be easily obtained from their muslim brothers who are in the not-so-French-anymore army. It is clear that these “youths” could have done some pretty serious damage to French cops with hunting rifles, but they didn’t, as far as I can tell no police are to be shot to be killed, yet. These “riots” are anything but spontaneous, wild, uncontrolled or unplanned. These are the opening skirmishes in a civil/cultural/religious/racial war.
I have made the mistake of going into a muslim area of Paris some years ago and it is an organized, well-led and tightly run place under strict islamic discipline. There is a parallel structure that exists next to French authority and that is muslim authority. It is not some crazy, undisciplined ghetto and I did not fear for my safety. It was obvious I was a foreigner and they had no interest in me. The place was way to controlled for that and I imagine anyone who stepped out of line would be dealt with. Think of the old neighborhoods in NYC where the mob was strong. Nothing goes on without say-so from the right people and it wasn’t the NYPD.
Now in smaller towns, interesting, probably to see how quickly French authorities can arrive and how they work. They are test runs for later campaigns and to tect tactics, people and organizational structure. They also want to see how the French authorities react and so far, I’d say the French are reacting exactly as expected.
Here is a link to an excellent article by Theodore Dalrymple about the situation. Note this datef from 2002:
http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_4_the_barbarians.html
Posted by at 12:42 PM on June 20
It should be a very simple rule: do not shoot at the police. Ever.
Posted by at 12:45 PM on June 20
“ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Where are you I have heard nothing in the news about riots in France. This shows how controlled our news is.”
I did read about President Sarkozy pledging to crack down and deport illegals. They made it sound like it was irrationally xenophobic. There was no mention of the ‘youth’ problem being the genesis for such ‘hateful’ action.
Posted by sbuffalonative at 3:07 PM on June 20
Baseball bats in France? Do they play baseball there? An easy way to help the multi-century French in this situation is to ban baseball bat importation.
Posted by MS at 5:20 PM on June 20
“These rabble rousers with adequate fire power will turn the nation into a congflagration, and I can’t think of any nation more deserving of experiencing first hand the results of their much lauded diversity programs.”
Posted by Robert Kelly
…………………………….
You’re absolutely right in what you say about the coming conflagration. But allow me to make one small correction about “diversity”. An important thing to understand about France is that, despite its traditional welcoming attitude to all, it has always opposed any kind of “diversity” and (for historical reasons of its own) sought to impose cultural/linguistic/religious conformity upon its population. For centuries, the official French attitude has been based on the assumption that immigrants will want to be French and will assimilate. This was simply taken for granted. It went unquestioned. The stress was on assimilation, not diversity. Diversity is a recent concept that seems to have been hatched by some groups in America.
In former centuries, when France’s immigrants were fellow Europeans, this expectation worked. Irishmen, Spaniards, Dutchmen and Poles all adjusted and readily became “French”. However, in the case of Moslems - African Moslems at that - the French have been disastrously wrong and they still fail to see it. The burgeoning Moslem masses have nothing but contempt for French culture and for all things Western (except the wealth). They are now present in such numbers that they do not have to pretend to conform. In short, the Moslems do not want to become French; they want the French to become Moslems. We shall see who wins.
Posted by ghw at 6:18 PM on June 20
ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Where are you? I have heard nothing in the news about riots in France. This shows how controlled our news is.
Posted by 9:17 PM
……………………………
Not just “our” news. I was in France last Nov & Dec., only a few miles away, and heard virtually nothing about it there either. If not for Amren (and some foreign papers), I might not have known.
Posted by ghw at 6:22 PM on June 20
“French youths clash with police”,,,
They are not “youths” and they most certainly are not “French”.
Posted by at 8:43 PM
How true. Just more cover-up euphemisms from the evasive media
Posted by at 10:37 PM on June 20
The news media is very well contolled in the U.S. We all got a good example of it when ALL news outlets went to the greatest lengths to keep a black-out on Ron Paul. I only get my news from AmRen or Drudge Report, or some other reputable internet source. I do not watch any television news networks. Shawn Hannity is as big a hypocrite as any I’ve seen on T.V.
Posted by roller at 12:19 AM on June 21
In reply to Robert Kelly, I have to say that pre-World War 2 France, and France right up to the Algerian war and the first Vietnam war was well known to be a tough, no-nonsense place, ruled by tough no-nonsense people - what we see today is an anomally.
Public guillotinings were carried out right up to the 1930s, the discipline regime of the French Foreign Legion was legendary, as were conditions on Devil’s Island, just read some accounts of the actions of French troops in the Algerian insurgency, or an incident in Paris, even, in the 1950s when scores of Arabs were killed in a public demonstration and their bodies were ‘disppeared’.
I could go on - what about the shocking way the @paris commune’ was dealt with?
Posted by Kenelm Digby at 7:51 AM on June 21
Once again, K. Digby is correct: French authorities, traditionally, took a very no-nonsense approach to enforcing public order, and had scant tolerance for diversity and spearatist notions.
French education, too, was until quite recently probably the last bastion in Europe of strict, old-fashioned discipline and rigorous scholarship — long after Scandinavia, Germany and England had gone way over to the left.
The amazing laxity that we see now is a break from tradition and is not what the Old France represented. It is indeed an anomaly.
I personally think that the prevailing notions lingering in the Anglo-saxon mind about the famed French “tolerance” for deviance from the norm come down to us mainly through literature and the arts. Yes, there were bohemians in Paris among the arty set; but most French people were not. The ordinary French did not live this way. They were quite straight-laced. And so were the authorities.
Up until the World Wars and before the jet age brought on common travel, France was seen abroad as a tolerant and permissive place in which to live — especially if you were both a foreigner and very rich (which most foreigners then were). Or at least someone who was famous. Even more so if you came from a powerful country — such as England, America, or Russia. As an aristocrat or millionaire from those places, you could live pretty much as you pleased. (And later, movie stars too.) France was full of rich or famous expatriots. As such, you were pretty much exempted from the rules. You were bringing in money and creating good will for France. And foreigners (or artists) were all expected to be rather strange anyway. This is the literary lens through which we still see France: the France of Hemmingway, Wharton, Maugham, Stein, Wilde, Josephine Baker, on and on. An endless list.
But this famed French tolerance for diversity or eccentricity did not apply to ordinary people. It never did. The situation today is totally new.
Posted by at 5:57 PM on June 21
Let me thank the poster at 12:42 PM on June 20, for that excellent, excellent article by Theodore Dalrymple. Dalrymple, an Englishman, is a retired doctor who lives in France and obviously knows what he is talking about. I think it is perhaps the best piece of writing I’ve seen on this subject. There are some brilliant insights there. I urge everyone interested in this topic to read his article.
It’s especially prescient that he wrote that piece in 2002, well before the recent rioting ever occurred. He also has an updated article here:
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-update_france.htm
Posted by ghw at 4:32 AM on June 22
“For centuries, the official French attitude has been based on the assumption that immigrants will want to be French and will assimilate. This was simply taken for granted. It went unquestioned. The stress was on assimilation, not diversity. Diversity is a recent concept that seems to have been hatched by some groups in America.” Posted by ghw at 6:18 PM on June 20
“But this famed French tolerance for diversity or eccentricity did not apply to ordinary people. It never did. The situation today is totally new.”
Posted by at 5:57 PM on June 21
RK: Yes, I agree with both the above points, but my reference to “diversity programs” was in regard to diversity of races other than whites, not their cultures, because the elites in France have been willingly accepting and/or encouraging non-whites into their nation, especially these last few years, which, some maintain, was strictly for reasons of racial diversity by the diversitoids there.
Too, if all they wanted were tax units, to make up for any shortfalls in old age pensions and were willing to accept non-whites, they’re guilty of an acceptance of racial diversity by refusing to disallow non-white immigration.
To be sure France has always egotistically assumed that the whole world lay awake at night fantasizing about getting an opportunity to be French, but whether their motives for importing third world hordes involved multiculturalism, or they wanted non-whites for the sake of being diverse in a racial way, doesn’t matter so much as recognizing that they have encouraged immigration from non-white countries.
It is those elitists and their followers that I was thinking of when I wrote that “they asked for it.” (A diversity of races.) And indeed they did.
Posted by Robert Kelly at 10:54 PM on June 22
“I could go on - what about the shocking way the @paris commune’ was dealt with?”
Posted by Kenelm Digby at 7:51 AM on June 21
Yes, I agree with what you write, Kenelm, but what France was, isn’t what France is today. There are now “no go” zones they can’t go into, unless they’re equipped with an overwhelming force, and even then, they tread lightly for fear they’ll create an international, “racist” incident.
Amd while they might have encouraged third world hordes to emigrate there, I’m pretty sure they did so thinking they were going to assimilate, except for the diversitoids whose aim has always been the encouragement of racial diversity.
So whether the importation of non-whites was for the purposes of securing more tax units and consumers to fund the government and to keep the economy spending, they nonetheless were in agreement to accepting non-whites, whether the diversity crowd had a hand in it or not. But, of course, they did. So, it is as I said, if they are having problems now it’s nothing they didn’t bring on themselves.
The entire West can blame nobody but themselves for this conversion into countries living every day on the brink of disaster, with riots and war only one incident away.
Posted by at 4:46 AM on June 23
If you read George Orwell’s excellent series of essays ‘Down and out in London and Paris’, then you might have some idea how tough life was for the ordinary French in pre-war times.
Posted by at 6:29 AM on June 23