Just weeks after hugely disruptive protests and strikes over pension reforms in France finally died down, businesses in the country are grappling with the fallout from a week of rioting.
For those who don’t know, while previous tensions regarding the recent pension protests are most likely not helping the current situation, these riots are about a cop murdering a 17 years old in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
Mainstream media pushed the narrative that it was the fault of the parents if the teenager was a thug and tried to present the kid as a dangerous individual (while he had some issues with the law, his lawyer insisted he didn’t have a criminal record). The cop in question claimed the teen tried to ram him with his car and shot him out of self defense. Multiple videos of the event emerged and the police officer’s claim turned out to be a complete lie (he even threatened to put a bullet in his head if he didn’t comply for not having his license or something like that). Apparently, this is the kind of story that happens quite a lot in these parts of France, but now that videos of it emerged it caused the current outrage.
Now the government is claiming the riots are caused by social medias and video games and two police unions wrote a press release declaring war on these “hordes sauvages” (savages hordes) and “nuisibles” (harmful/detrimental) referring to the people of Naterre by all means necessary. (Some politicians from the oppositions are quite disturbed by it).
I’m not French, but that’s what I got from multiple reports so far, I might be missing some details.
To add insult to injury, supporters of the police officer raised a crowdfund. It is now above 1.5 million €.
During the “gilets jaunes” protests, one participant boxed a riot police unit (in full riot suit) & got arrested. A crowdfund was opened to help him. The government cancelled the funds within 48 hours.
The French government is sending the clear message that “it’s okay for French police to kill people; even better if they are minorities (arabs,muslims,…)” and they will always get the support of the state. Disgusting.
It’s truly disappointing to see that, as an American, this is what France is now. French troops saved my grandpa (AA) back in WWII when they were a more racially progressive country than the USA and I always looked up to them for that. Black POWs would often be mysteriously “killed in the camps” right before being rescued by American troops, but the French troops found him first.
I’m glad many are rioting over this. That is the France I know.
I don’t think France is any more or less racist than the US at any point. France has been multicultural, more receptive to people of colour, and did not officially have racial segregation, but they still treated non-white French as second class citizens albeit low key. The fact that France had colonies and fought hard to keep them after World War II despite postwar economic devastation showed they have still been discriminatory. The French government in the 60s was nearly couped by ultranationalist army officers for granting independence to Algeria. Even today, there are many French who are ultranationalists and there is a reason why Marine Le Pen won 40% of the French population.
There’s a lot of racism in France, just like any country.
But it doesn’t take the same form as in the USA and the history and the cause are different.
It’s also why we shouldn’t imitate the USA on it, same word, different reality
There’s a lot of racism in France, just like any country.
That’s what I’m saying. Each countries are not necessarily anymore or less racist. Some places are more overt, while others are subtle.
This is just another data point that French police and government are in repression mode. Let’s not forget also how they attacked firefighters during their protests in 2020: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/28/french-police-clash-with-firefighters-during-paris-protest
As an european, don’t downvote me, i’m trying to show to you a different point of view. This sum for the police officer is huge, that’s mean that the people are really angry. ( yes this is more and more before these riots ) . Far right parties all around europe are gaining traction ( a lot ) and far right parties that seems too light on immigration are been replaced by other more extemists parties ( see poland ). I don’t think that this american point of view is welcomed by a growing part of european population. Politicians with lesser pro rioters views , like melenchon are targeted as left-islamists by member of the center wing of governement. See that like a sort of troubles in northern ireland, but bigger, with more ideological differences.
Mainstream media pushed the narrative that it was the fault of the parents if the teenager was a thug and tried to present the kid as a dangerous individual
*Far right leaning mainstream media.
Fucking insane. I am sad riots stopped so early
Don’t be sad, we are currently preparing the revolution. Might take from 5 to 10 years
The only thing I reapect about fr*nce is their protest culture
Jk jk I’m sure there’s other stuff like baked goods or whatever. Great job with the riots guys.
Great job? They destroy and loot their own cities in name of “protest”. This is not a protest, this is shameless looting and destruction.
This is not a protest, this is shameless looting and destruction.
You guys have the same talking points wherever you are.
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If you fk around trying to wind back social benefits to please like 5% of top incone receivers you FIND OUT when they break stuff.
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the vast MAJORITY of breaking stuff has been proven in the US to be right-winger provocateurs.
You are aware that the shops and infrastructure they are destroying have no influence on social security nor policy, right? You are also aware that most shops are family owned businesses that already struggle to make ends meet, and face similar issues as the people rioting? There are ways to protest and revolt against a government, that don’t include stealing or breaking public infrastructure. I don’t get why people think stealing is warranted when you tag protest on it.
Then maybe cops should stop killing innocent people and the government should not protect their paid murderers.
Why is the only possible solution aimed at the protestors and not the actual institutions that caused the protests to be necessary?
This WHOLE ENTIRE talking point, in effect, takes away from THE POINT OF THE PROTEST.
The points of the protest are the eroding of everyone’s quality of life because of an uppermost class AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM
I am not the OP here but this is an example of how the narrative shifts when the demonstrators shift to property damage. This is why the right grows during periods of unrest. They use it to justify more oppressive policies and they get the support of those small businesses and community leaders. It is an immensely consistent trend throughout history. Even the American Revolution, so often touted as a natural course of events, did not gain popular support until the Boston Massacre (Only killing six people and nobody knows who shot first)
I thought this was about police violence? But sure. Oh and p.s, from a rational point of view, the pension age cannot stand as is, and must be increased to ensure pension for all
Oooooooorrrrrrrrrr, we can tax the fuck out of the 1%.
Oh and p.s, from a rational point of view, the pension age cannot stand as is, and must be increased to ensure pension for all
This terrible opinion is why you keep hitting that “BUT THE LOOTING11!1” lever lol
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It is their cities and they do as they please.
Government needs to learn the good old classic…
Fuck around, find out.
Yeah they are really showing the government … I feel sorry for the innocent people that lost so much due to this “protest”. People’s cars burned down, family owned businesses had their shops looted and cannot make any money for the next couple of weeks, people relying on public infrastructure cannot use it.
Yeah… You don’t feel this for ded kid tho… Am I right?
God forbid profits got hurtz
It is sad that the kid got shot, but lets not pretend he was innocent.
Was he convicted in the French criminal court system and sentenced to death as the legally mandated punishment?
What in the deep fried fuck are you smoking? Death by cop is not how th justice system there is supposed to work.
I feel sorry for the innocent people that lost so much due to this “protest”.
no you don’t
Oh yes, the governemnt will tremble in fear, looking at the people destroying their own streets, while watching them from the top of the ivory tower. :D
Cope pussy
Don’t be such a pussy. You’ll let people step all over you if you’re afraid to fight back.
If you don’t want to be a pussy, fight the people who wronged you. Fighting bystenders and their property makes you a coward.
Ah the mighty keyboard warrior.
What you are basically implying is that you are a “pussy” when you don’t rob stores and destroy other peoples property? Don’t like the government, vote for something else, or start a party yourself. If we allow people that are mad about anything to simply start destroying things and stealing stuff, then we are far from a society I want to live in.
JuST vOtE
Seriously guys, it sounds like Marjorie Taylor Greene or Ted Cruz or Ben Shapiro writes this stuff LOL
Imagine believing that voting changed anything. The only candidates who can win are the ones approved by the oligarchs.
Except the damage these pension changes will cause to these workers is likely trillions of euros over the next 60 years. Even if they did 100 billion in short term damages it would still be a better investment in the long term to prevent these changes as written’
Go back to reddit dipshit
If you don’t like it why don’t you go start another for yourself?
LMAO gtfo capitalist shill
I wish we had the same mentality as French when it comes to protesting. Here people generally complain in a pub while drinking beer.
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Yeah, sure, it’s not like the French are famous for protesting about everything.
Just looked at photos and there are all ethnicities present, including French people. You might want to take your racism elsewhere.
I get your point. Actively contributing to politics either by joining a party or by protesting is supporting democracy.
But looting stores and robbing people en masse only discredits peaceful protests.
I agree, looting stores is not the way to go. But peaceful protests are way to easy to just ignore
The required mass of people is definitely higher. But if you are interested, I can recommend reading about the Monday demonstrations which brought down the eastern Germany regime. They were (by a broad majority) peaceful.
Yeah, I don’t like that part. On the other hand, peaceful protests don’t change anything.
Peaceful protests discredit peaceful protests. They get nothing done.
The purpose of a protest is to show that you have the numbers for a riot. If the people in power know you’ll never follow through on it, they can ignore you.
Pretty sure the French government ignored them anyway. Pension reform still went through.
Killer Mike said it best,
Don’t criticize rioting because I understand it. But after the fires die down: organize, strategize and mobilize. Like Ferguson, you have an opportunity to start anew. I don’t have a solution because whoever’s there will have to come up with it. But we need community relations: Riots are the language of the unheard.
He should be called Based Mike. There’s a stereotype of rappers being dumb, but they’re probably a lot smarter than they let on.
It sounds like France can’t afford to raise the pension age.
Good. The ruling class need to face consequences or they’ll never learn.
One could argue that the shop owner whose business was devastated and looted is not necessary in the league of the ruling class
hopefully they apply pressure to the ruling class as well then
Real classy methods of applying pressure.
“Then when his wife, Melanie Nowak, tried to flee with the children, aged five and seven, they were attacked…”
Ruling class is laughing their arses off while watching working class destroying itself. And then they will buy out all the damaged properties for pennies from bankrupt locals. Great consequences!
They’re actually very scared. They are beguing to send the army. Fortunately the government still has one functioning neuron.
What exactly will they learn? They will just pick up the scraps and open shops elsewhere. The only loosers will be the “protestors” too poor to move, while unable to get a job in the wasteland they helped to create. Because no business will dare to open a shop on a street where public burnings are as comon as summer rain.
Yeah, I’m sure that little mom and pop patisseries are keeping the boot on the neck of the little guy.
I doubt bakeries get targeted lol cute try tho
Gucci and LV shops… Fuck 'em, who cares haha
Protesters have looted 200 stores and destroyed 300 bank branches and 250 smaller corner shops.
Quote from article. Must feel like a huge stab in the back when your shop gets run over and looted by fellow countrymen.
Yeah… Government fucked up and the rich let it
Maybe they shouldn’t have pushed the pension reforms if they didnt want to lose money?
It’s not just about money, it’s about workforce. Imagine being in a nursery, without nurses available. As for the money, you cannot expect society to pay for a specific standard of living for too long. The workforce must support the people that are not working. Now that we are getting older on average, it would mean that the workforce will have to support more non working people. Imagine that you retire at 60, but people now live on average to 80, which is increasing every decade now
There are really only two options here, increase retirement age, or increase taxes on the workforce. Take your pick.
Why can’t we tax the fucking companies?
Never said we can’t, we definitely should. But will it be enough?
Yes it would. If the 1% had to play by the same rules as everyone else and they paid their fair share of taxes it would be enough.
That’s a false dichotomy. There are many more options. Increasing the salary part of the gpd would increase the the base income the pension takes a part of. But salary part of the gpd has never been so low.
And no, increasing salaries would not grow inflation if companies take the money on the insane benefits they did these last years. Wages raise don’t make the inflation. Companies that increase prices to increase their benefits grow the inflation.
Heckin based
Did they actually get the reform scrapped in the end?
These riots are about a cop murdering an unarmed black teenager, not pension reforms.
Not exactly. The murder was only the triggering event of these riots, who were bound to happen. These people are unhappy and very very dissatisfied with the government. I understand them (as a french)
Why can’t americans be like the french? Protests have to cause damage to be effective!
We could learn a thing or two from the French.
Zis is ze way
Property of the rich is more valuable than lesser quality organic persons.
What a cesspit of racists promoting violence. I did not expect this. I expected people who value safety and civility. There are protests and there are riots. There’s justice and there’s setting fire to the mayor’s house, injuring his family. There’s a democratic state, and an angry mob destroying stuff. There’s innocent kid, and an unknown individual at the wheel of a ton of high-speed steel illegally in a city full of people. These “cars” by the way, have the biggest violent death toll in developed countries. Guns? Heck no!
I am so disappointed.
There are no safe and sane riots. This is how rioting goes. I don’t take part in riots, but I understand that it is the language of the unheard (much in the same way that war is “diplomacy by other means,” rioting is what happens when protests don’t work).
There were no protests. No lawsuits, no nothing. Straight to violence.
And people here actually believe that it’s good to hurt other people, as if that fixes the death of one person. Horrible in every way. Shameful and disgusting.
Do you have any idea how many people are killed by the police when they are unarmed? Here it was blatent murder, and if it wasn’t for the video leaked on social media the cop would face absolutely no consequences.
Murderers place is in jail. When justice fail, the social contract is broken. When the social contract is broken, there is no peace or discussion.
Neither France nor the USA were built on peaceful protests. At some point, the idiot in charge has to understand how it goes.
Do you have any idea how many people are killed by the police when they are unarmed?
Fewer than armed people killing other people when the police isn’t there. If that ain’t true then obviously the police should be disbanded. And since you haven’t brought up any data, I will bring it, from the latest news. 15 incidents like that, in France, in the last year. And according to data I found for 2016, there were around 1500 total gun deaths (about 100 times more).
So yeah, I have an idea. Do you?
Here it was blatent murder
A person was killed. Whether it was murder or manslaughter, is not up to you to decide because you have no degree in law in France.
and if it wasn’t for the video leaked on social media the cop would face absolutely no consequences.
Ok, so the cop will face consequences now. Isn’t that the goal? Why hurt other people that have nothing to do with it? Your reasoning is completely absent here.
When justice fail, the social contract is broken
Who is gonna carry out justice for all the assholes that hurt people in these riots? Shall we play the escalation game just to satisfy your weird revenge boner?
When the social contract is broken, there is no peace or discussion.
So your solution is to escalate violence endlessly. slow clap
Neither France nor the USA were built on peaceful protests.
You don’t know history very well, do you? You’re comparing authoritarian regimes with democratic ones now.
Your data is considering suicides… And a cop killing someone is also a murder, so it will go in the stats of people killed by gunshot.
So yes, cops are actually responsible for 15% of murders in France with guns. We can also say that cops kill more than terrorism.
If you’re fine with this, there’s no point discussing further.
I explicitly said that I’m all for justice. You are being dishonest with your last statement, which is an emotional reaction that is completely unnecessary. Cool down.
So if your sources are correct, then when comparing the organization that should have the monopoly on violence, to how much violence they enact, it’s 15%,… it’s kinda dumb, isn’t it? It’s dumb to expect the organization with the monopoly on violence to enact an order of magnitude less violence than the “competitors”.
Man the monopoly of violence is certainly not the right to murder unarmed people! Do you realize what you’re saying?!
This is like telling somebody who is abused to do nothing. If you can’t leave you fight the abuser if you can, you destroy the things they enjoy if you can’t.
And I’m sorry but if you own a business that survives by selling to the plunderers, you’re part of why they want to take that money and time and why cops are shooting people.
We spent four years at war over the death of one man, and twenty years at war over the deaths of three thousand.
And this was not the first black person to be murdered in France by the police like this. The Parisians are responding to a pattern that has not been ended no matter how much they protest.
And this was not the first
blackperson to be murdered in France by the police like this.ok racist.
Pattern? What pattern? Do you have any public data to go with that statement, that shows a problem SO BIG with authorities that it justifies violence? In the last years, 15 people have been killed by police in such incidents. 8 police officers have been charged. Without knowing the details about the rest, how can you claim that it’s a systemic problem? You know what a systemic problem looks like? More than 2000 people were killed BY cars in the same period. THAT’s a systemic problem. For the scale of this problem however, peaceful protests calling for transparency in these cases, and other constructive demands, should be the reaction, and not this. This? This just shows that France is dealing with violence and gives many people the impression that it’s OK if police sometimes kill such violent people. I literally had this conversation with the other side, who tried to convince me that the rioters should be shot or something. 17 year old broke the law driving the vehicle, and recklessly tried to speed away from this. The police officer over-reacted (cars do kill people quite a lot) and should be investigated for manslaughter, but what should not happen is this. Why is it so hard to see? Why are y’all so trigger happy? Maybe because it’s not your house that was attacked and your family injured? Maybe because it’s not your neighbourhood which got trashed and your business looted?
How is it racist to have relevant data, like the fact the cop was white or the kid being black.
You make it seem like the race matters in this incident. As if a black person killed is different from a pink person killed. You have preferential treatment of problems based on skin color. That is racist.
Well, the people of France seem to think its part of the issue.
Nonviolent protests don’t work. GTFO capitalist shill
So if I abhor violence and people getting hurt, suddenly I’m a “capitalist shill”.
Speaks volumes of your intellect, I must say
