The wave of violence in France has not yet subsided after deadly police shots. But Nazis have long been marching with the riots.
Frankfurt/Paris – After the recent riots France had a quiet night. Comparatively. Nationwide there were 157 arrests from Sunday to Monday – 297 cars burned out, 34 buildings were set on fire, like the newspaper Le Parisien reported.
Anger and protest over the deadly police shot at the 17-year-old Nahel, young people in particular, have expressed displeasure, but also violent riots and looting. The average age of the 3,200 people arrested by Sunday was 17, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. But the problem has long since spread: according to media reports, worrying parades by neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists are now part of the night-time street scene.
Riots in France: Nazis march – with baseball bats and unmistakable slogans
According to the Italian daily, groups of right-wing militants were out and about “in the suburbs of several cities” including Lyon, Marseille, Chambéry and Lorien Republica. According to the newspaper, some of the men carried baseball bats and raised their right arms. Recordings on Twitter also show the elevators: Slogans such as “Blue, white, red, France for the French” could be heard.
The transmitter France3 reported on “clashes between hooded youths and far-right activists” in Angers, western France. On Saturday (July 1), fifty right-wing extremists gathered at the premises of a right-wing student organization and then took to the streets with baseball bats and smoke bombs. Security forces would have broken up the activities. Similar scenes had already occurred on Friday – a total of eleven people were being investigated after clashes because of carrying weapons.
Right-wing militants could even be seen on the symbolic Champs-Élysées in Paris, it was reported Republica further. They yelled at groups of black youth, “We’re going to make you bleed.” On the Youngsters committed looting on the boulevard. Young men dressed in black appeared in broad daylight in the Savoy town of Chambéry – claiming that they wanted to protect shopkeepers from attacks. And the slogan “French, wake up, you’re at home here”.
France between youth riots and Nazi marches: “Stability could be in crisis”
The sociologist Olivier Gallant also sees the riots and the subsequent uncertainty of many people in France as a fodder for right-wing forces. The left does not condemn the riots – but that is exactly what most French people do. “The right and the extreme right know how to deal with this feeling,” he said: “The only party that can benefit from this situation is that Rally National.”
Gallant, director of research at the Center national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), which reports to the Ministry of Research, went one step further. “The French strongly want a return to order and if the situation worsens, the stability of the executive could face a crisis,” he said. “As we have seen, worrying results can arise.” The Macron government is apparently facing a mammoth task.
Riots after deadly police shots: situation in France remains threatening
On Sunday, the grandmother of the killed youth called for an end to the unrest. She accused the rioters of using her grandson’s death as a pretext for violence. “Luckily the police are there. I say to the people who are breaking something, ‘stop’.” Although she is angry at the officer who shot her son, she does not want to generalize. He will be punished like everyone else: “I have faith in the judiciary.”
However, the situation in France remains extremely fragile – and in some cases continues to be threatening. On Sunday there was also an attack on the house of the mayor of the municipality of L’Haÿ-les-Roses, a burning car crashed into the property. The riots and marches are likely to point to deep-seated conflicts – to feelings of insecurity as well as to structural disadvantages and violence against residents of the banlieues.
Police action there “has become noticeably more aggressive on orders from above,” said another CNRS sociologist, Sébastien Roche, who taz. “The illegitimate violence of police officers provokes reactions of anger, but it does not necessarily escalate,” he said. “The state authorities must allow people to protest non-violently in public. That is a fundamental right.” Meanwhile, the German FDP warned of riots in Germany, too – because of “uncontrolled immigration”. (fn)
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