Paris is Burning

As I mentioned yesterday, the World Cup is on, and Moroccan “youths” in Europe are becoming more and more frisky as their team moves up in the semifinals.

The rambunctious youngsters engaged in some spirited high jinks in Paris last weekend after Morocco beat Portugal. The next milestone will be Morocco vs. France on Wednesday — the aftermath of that one is bound to be a doozy, especially in Paris. To paraphrase an old Arab proverb: “A thousand cars can be burned in one night by a running man.”

Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from Le Parisien:

World Cup: At least 100 arrests during celebrations on the Champs-Élysées

Police had to face projectiles and fireworks being thrown in their direction. More than 1,000 officers mobilized for the evening as 20,000 people gathered on the Champs-Élysées.

by E.J.
December 10, 2022

The Paris Prefecture of Police had announced a particular plan for Saturday evening. In their sights: Police fears of disorder tied to two World Cup matches in which Morocco (victorious 1-0 against Portugal) then France (2-1 against England) qualified to meet in the semifinal in Qatar.

At the final whistle of the first match, around 6pm, thousands of fans of Morocco, the first African country to reach this stage of the competition, paraded in the streets of the capital, as they did in all of France. 20,000 people came together in a festive atmosphere on the Champs-Élysées, and incidents broke out around 11pm. “Projectiles were thrown at security forces, three two-wheel vehicles were set on fire, and a barricade was erected,” the prefecture of police stated. “The front of a café was damaged, the window of a bank and an entrance hall suffered damage,” the prefecture added. Nineteen police officers were slightly injured. At midnight, security operations were still in progress.

At least 170 people were arrested throughout France, 100 of them in Paris, according to the latest total reported at Sunday midday by the prefecture and the Paris Prosecutor’s Office. Of the 100 persons arrested in the capital, 80, including 23 minors, were placed in custody, the prosecutor’s office stated. Essentially for “group participation, violence against public officials, rebellion, damages, and possession of explosives.” Eleven other persons “received citations,” the prosecutor’s office stated.

In the streets, the train stations, the metro… An important plan

A plan “to fight against delinquency, to insure the safety of property and people in Paris, the inner suburbs, and in public transport,” was announced Friday.

1,220 police and gendarmes were thus mobilized as of 4pm in the capital. “A specific plan was also put in place on the Champs-Élysées in order to prevent any disturbance of public order likely to be caused by fans and to counter any incidents of delinquency,” the Prefecture of Paris noted.

To avoid traffic congestion on the axis leading to the Arc de Triomphe, “several entrances to Paris around the periphery (Porte de Muette, Porte Maillot, Porte des Ternes, Porte Dauphine) were closed off beginning at 6:30 pm.”

In public transport, patrols were deployed in the train stations and the Metro Line 1, as well as the RER A. [Paris commuter train]. Some personnel were in plainclothes, aided by “the video patrol”. Teams will probably be mobilized again Wednesday evening for the match between France and Morocco, where a place in the finals will be at stake beginning at 8pm.

At 1:30 in the morning, some vehicles that had converged in the center of Paris in the evening left the capital via the peripheral street. They showed their joy by honking horns and speeding but without provoking incidents.

4 thoughts on “Paris is Burning

    • That the nature of this parasites!, bring them more to Europe because it’s not enough, uhh..

  1. The French elected idiotic leaders ,the Germans elected idiotic leaders, Canada elected an idiotic leader and America elected an idiotic leader .I quote the late great mayor of NYC ,Edward Koch “the people have gotten what the wish for they will get punished good and hard for it”.

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