The violence committed in France no longer has much to do with the death of young Nahel M., killed by a policeman in Nanterre on Tuesday June 27. Since Friday June 30, the riots affecting hundreds of municipalities in France have changed in nature, with unprecedented intensity, extreme levels of violence, looting of businesses, attacks against public services, against civil servants, against elected officials. and ultimately, several thousand direct victims of fires, violence, damage or theft.
In five nights and as many days of violence, the toll exceeded in seriousness, in the opinion of several sources, that of the riots of autumn 2005 which had lasted three weeks. The figures only give a glimpse of those very long hours when groups of rioters took control of their neighborhoods – something that had happened before. But also attacked public services or shops in city centers, causing panic in Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse or Strasbourg, sometimes drowned in tear gas, the sound of explosions and the smell of fires. At night, but also in broad daylight, despite a considerable police force with more than 40,000 civil servants mobilized, including units such as that of the RAID police officers or the GIGN gendarmes and the use of gendarmerie armored vehicles.
A vandalized Monoprix store, in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, June 30, 2023. BRUNO AMSELLEM / DIVERGENCE FOR “THE WORLD” A building was set on fire and ended up collapsing, on the night of June 29 to 30, in Montargis (Loiret), July 1, 2023. CLÉMENCE LOSFELD FOR “THE WORLD”
On Sunday July 2, the Ministry of the Interior counted more than 5,000 burned vehicles, 10,000 garbage can fires, nearly 1,000 buildings burned, degraded or looted, 250 attacks on police stations or gendarmeries, more than 700 injured among the police. . A firearm was, in particular, used against the police in the Pissevin district of Nîmes where a police officer’s bulletproof vest blocked a 9 mm projectile – this had been the case in 2005 in Grigny (Essonne) and Montfermeil (Seine-Saint-Denis). A 54-year-old man died Thursday night in Guyana, hit by a stray bullet fired by a rioter, police said.
“The law is us”
Unprecedented fact, rioters also attacked elected officials, marking an additional stage in radicalization, as in Pontoise (Val-d’Oise), Montluçon (Allier) or L’Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de -Marl). In this city, the mayor (Les Républicains), Vincent Jeanbrun, was directly targeted: a car was thrown at his house and then set on fire, forcing his wife and two young children to flee. “A milestone has been reached in horror and ignominy”, revolted the mayor. “The vehicle was launched to burn the flag”said the public prosecutor of Creteil. An investigation for attempted murder has been opened.
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