Paris hit by new wave of violence
Riot police were out in force in a troubled suburb of Paris early today, a day after youths hurled petrol bombs at buildings, pelted officers and took to the streets with baseball bats.
Dozens of vans carrying riot officers were stationed in Montfermeil, 10 miles east of landmarks including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, and in the nearby suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, the flashpoint of riots last year. A helicopter also had the area under surveillance.
While there were no immediate reports of a repeat of the violence of the night before, a firebomb was thrown inside a police vehicle, setting it ablaze last night. Officers inside barely had time to get out.
The first overnight clashes on Monday and the palpable tensions yesterday were a stark reminder of the anger that smoulders in depressed French suburbs.
It came despite new government efforts to tackle high youth unemployment and racial inequalities following the three weeks of similar, albeit far worse, rioting last autumn that shook the country.
Police said nine officers received light injuries, mostly from projectiles, during the three hours of unrest in Montfermeil on Monday. Officers made three arrests and fired rubber bullets to try to disperse around 100 youths.
The violence was triggered by the arrest on Monday afternoon of a suspect over the beating of a bus driver earlier this month, the mayor’s office said.
The mayor, Xavier Lemoine, said he witnessed that first attack on the driver and had intervened to stop it.
On Monday night, following the suspect’s arrest, “about 100 people headed to my house shouting: ‘The mayor is a son of a bitch’,” he told The Associated Press.
“The police reacted right away and a violent confrontation took place about 100 meters from my house.”
He said petrol bombs were thrown at city hall and that a separate municipal storeroom was partially burned. City hall also suffered two broken windows and shattered glass on its front door.
Last year’s riots started after two youths died when they were electrocuted while hiding from police in a power sub-station.
Many of those who rioted were of immigrant origin, laying bare decades of discrimination and France’s failure to integrate immigrants and provide opportunities for impoverished youth.
Youths from Montfermeil said yesterday that little had changed since then and that suburbs like theirs remained tinderboxes.
Tension in Montfermeil has remained high since the mayor banned teenagers last month from circulating in groups of more than three and ordered youths under 16 to be accompanied by an adult in public. A court later overturned the bans after protests from civil liberties groups.
Youths also blamed stepped-up police patrols in Montfermeil for contributing to tensions.
Greens politician Noel Mamere said that after last year’s riots, France had simply put “the lid on the pot” of its troubled suburbs.
“But it is still boiling and the fire can start again with the slightest spark,” he said.
