Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Rioting Spreads From Paris Across France (France starts using Helicopters)
AP ^ | Nov 4 2005 | AP

Posted on 11/05/2005 7:48:42 AM PST by Eurotwit

AUBERVILLIERS, France - Marauding youths torched nearly 900 vehicles, stoned paramedics and burned a nursery school in a ninth night of violence that spread from Paris suburbs to towns around France, police said Saturday. Authorities arrested more than 250 people overnight — a sweep unprecedented since the unrest began.

ADVERTISEMENT

For the first time, authorities used a helicopter to chase down youths armed with gasoline bombs who raced from arson attack to arson attack, national police spokesman Patrick Hamon said.

The violence, which was concentrated in neighborhoods with large African and Muslim populations but has since spread, has forced France to address the simmering anger of its suburbs, where immigrants and their French-born children live on the margins of society.

With 897 vehicles destroyed by daybreak Saturday, it was the worst one-day toll since unrest broke out after the Oct. 27 accidental electrocution of two teenagers who believed police were chasing them. Five hundred cars were burned a night earlier.

In a particularly malevolent turn, youths in the eastern Paris suburb of Meaux prevented paramedics from evacuating a sick person from a housing project, pelting rescuers with rocks and torching the awaiting ambulance, an Interior Ministry official said.

A nursery school was badly burned in Acheres, west of Paris.

The town had previously escaped the violence, the worst rioting in at least a decade in France. Some residents demanded that the army be deployed, or that citizens band together to protect their neighborhoods. At the school gate, Mayor Alain Outreman tried to calm tempers.

"We are not going to start militias," he said. "You would have to be everywhere."

Unrest, mainly arson, was reported in the northern city of Lille, in Toulouse in the southwest and in the Normandy city of Rouen. It was the second night that troubles spread beyond the difficult Paris suburbs.

In Suresnes, a normally calm town just west of the capital, 44 cars were burned in a lot.

On Saturday morning, more than 1,000 people took part in a silent march in one of the worst-hit suburbs, Aulnay-sous-Bois. One banner read: "No to violence."

Police detained 258 people overnight, almost all in the Paris region, and dozens of them will be prosecuted, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said after a government crisis meeting.

"Violence penalizes those who live in the toughest conditions," he said. "Violence is not the solution."

Most attacks have been in towns with low-income housing projects, areas marked by high unemployment, crime and despair. But in a new development, gangs have left their heavily policed neighborhoods to attack others with fewer police, spreading the violence.

Police deployed overnight in smaller, more mobile teams to chase rioters getting around in cars and on motorcycles, said Hamon, the police spokesman.

There appeared to be no coordination among gangs in different areas, Hamon said. Within gangs, however, youths communicated by cell phone text messages or e-mails and warned each other about police, he said.

Anger against police was fanned days ago when a tear gas bomb exploded in a mosque in Clichy-sous-Bois, north of Paris — the same surburb where the youths were electrocuted. Youths suspected a police operation, but Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin met Saturday with the head of the Paris mosque and denied that police were to blame.

The persistence of the violence prompted the American and Russian governments to advise citizens visiting Paris to steer clear of the suburbs.

In Torcy, east of the capital, looters set fire to a youth center and a police station, which were gutted, city hall said. An incendiary device was tossed at the wall of a synagogue in Pierrefitte, northwest of Paris.

A police officer at the Interior Ministry operations center said bullets were fired into a vandalized bus in Sarcelles, north of Paris.

Firefighters battled a furious blaze at a carpet warehouse in Aubervilliers, on the northern edge of Paris.


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: flockofbarbarians; france; ouihad; parisriots
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 141-148 next last
To: Eurotwit
"Violence is not the solution."

Violence has solved every war, football game, and half of all marriages.

21 posted on 11/05/2005 7:58:39 AM PST by Richard Kimball
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lexington Green
I love the smell of Paris burning in the morning. It smells like SCHADENFREUDE.
Best analysis of this situation to date. Thanks.
22 posted on 11/05/2005 7:59:46 AM PST by samtheman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: paudio

And how do they capture the 'yoots' with the helicopter? Do the yoots all stay together and run into the arms of the waiting police? I am sure the yoots scatter and just run down alleys or go into a 30 story high-rise slum and that's that.

Then they can pretend to chase some more yoots until the copter runs out of fuel. Copters are great for chasing a single vehicle (or shooting at things, which the french will never do), but they don't work to well on groups of people unless the people are stupid enough to stay in a group. I am sure it is a great game for the yoots to find a copter and have it chase them.


23 posted on 11/05/2005 8:00:03 AM PST by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: paudio

But, but, but, the fuel is expensive!


24 posted on 11/05/2005 8:00:21 AM PST by US_MilitaryRules ("Don't get Stuck On Stupid" and "Did I mention I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night"? NRA Member)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: HiTech RedNeck

Has the stupid frog government never heard of the word curfew. Apply the curfew and arrest or kill anyone caught out breaking it.


25 posted on 11/05/2005 8:01:05 AM PST by Ursus arctos horribilis ("It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!" Emiliano Zapata 1879-1919)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Eurotwit

The mayor was obviously a collaborator in olden days of Nazi occupation. How long will it be before France hollers for
help from the outside world?


26 posted on 11/05/2005 8:01:08 AM PST by Duffboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Eurotwit

Marauding youths......? This sounds very PC to me. Is it really a bunch of white French Teenagers causing havoc? Tell the truth. It's young Muslim, African, and Arab men mad at the system. Hey, don't get me wrong. The French have a real 'class' system. It's almost impossible to move up in that society, especially if you have a unique cultural background. However, the press is worried that the 'us regualar folks' wouldn't be able to handle the actual facts of the situation. French culture is awash with arogance. They keep the mnorities locked in ghettos shook hands with Saddam...It's just catching up to them in the form of these riots.


27 posted on 11/05/2005 8:01:13 AM PST by Firefox1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Eurotwit
"The violence, which was concentrated in neighborhoods with large African and Muslim populations"

African and Muslim? I believe the author means "African Muslim" ("Muslim" being the operative word).

"....forced France to address the simmering anger of its suburbs"

Hint for the Frogs: Immigration policy.

28 posted on 11/05/2005 8:03:08 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Eurotwit
"We are not going to start militias," he said. "You would have to be everywhere."

Local Militias may be effective in preventing property damage in neighborhood areas by creating a safety zone for citizens. Thoughts? Are these folks gutless or realistic?

For my money I'd want to pop off a few shots at the hostiles before they cut my head off.

29 posted on 11/05/2005 8:03:39 AM PST by Caipirabob (Democrats.. Socialists..Commies..Traitors...Who can tell the difference?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: cayuga
Let me know when they start using helicopter gunships.

My thoughts exactly, you beat me to it.

30 posted on 11/05/2005 8:04:51 AM PST by Godzilla (Today's mighty oak tree is just yesterdays nut who held it's ground.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Eurotwit

It's a quagmire.


31 posted on 11/05/2005 8:06:04 AM PST by No Truce With Kings (The opinions expressed are mine! Mine! MINE! All Mine!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lexington Green
It smells like SCHADENFREUDE.

Its out-in-the-openfreude for me.

32 posted on 11/05/2005 8:06:17 AM PST by vbmoneyspender
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Eurotwit
On Saturday morning, more than 1,000 people took part in a silent march in one of the worst-hit suburbs, Aulnay-sous-Bois. One banner read: "No to violence."

Was the banner meant for the "Muslim youth" or the police? You know, those "against police brutality" crowd..

33 posted on 11/05/2005 8:06:18 AM PST by paudio (Four More Years..... Let's Use Them Wisely...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Duffboy
How long will it be before France hollers for help from the outside world?

To the french, they ARE the world.

34 posted on 11/05/2005 8:06:38 AM PST by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Eurotwit
I think this calls for maximum tact. In the most gracious terms possible, President Bush should offer France some counterinsurgency teams fresh from Iraq, plus the 101st Airborne as backup since the French Army is no longer combat ready.

We would, of course, have to insist on U.S. command.

Alternatively, we should propose a UN peacekeeping mission to be staffed primarily by Francophone African troops from the various French ex-colonies, plus bilingual Canadians.

35 posted on 11/05/2005 8:06:54 AM PST by sphinx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Eurotwit
"The town had previously escaped the violence, the worst rioting in at least a decade in France. Some residents demanded that the army be deployed, or that citizens band together to protect their neighborhoods. At the school gate, Mayor Alain Outreman tried to calm tempers.

"We are not going to start militias," he said. "You would have to be everywhere." "

Hmmmmm. Could it be that the spirit of Charles Martel lurks in the hearts of the average Frenchman, somewhere deep down?
You know, I'm wondering if one of two scenarios happens:
1. The French people decide to take matters into their own hands, only to see their government clap down on them instead of those causing the problem.
2. The French people decide to take matters into their own hands, and the French government, afraid of the people storming the Bastille after taking care of the problem, decides to do what it was elected to do.

36 posted on 11/05/2005 8:08:04 AM PST by Tench_Coxe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ursus arctos horribilis
Apply the curfew and arrest or kill anyone caught out breaking it.

That would be culturally insensitive (which makes it illegal) to nocturnal rioters.

37 posted on 11/05/2005 8:08:05 AM PST by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Eurotwit

This just in from the cultural idiosyncracies department:

France: "We are not going to start militias," he said. "You would have to be everywhere."

United States: "We are going to start militias. We are everywhere."


38 posted on 11/05/2005 8:08:44 AM PST by Unknowing (Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Eurotwit

They're giving the French a great opportunity to effect some urban renewal.


39 posted on 11/05/2005 8:09:16 AM PST by .cnI redruM (Because change is not something you talk into existence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Unknowing

The violence, which was concentrated in neighborhoods with large African and Muslim populations but has since spread, has forced France to address the simmering anger of its suburbs, where immigrants and their French-born children live on the margins of society.


SEND THEM THE F^&*& HOME ALREADY!


40 posted on 11/05/2005 8:10:56 AM PST by chris1 ("Make the other guy die for his country" - George S. Patton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 141-148 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson