After death in police action
Rioters attack police station near Paris
March 18, 2024, 2:48 a.m
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An 18-year-old dies in a collision with a police car in a Paris suburb. An accident, say the emergency services. Intentional homicide, the relatives say. An angry mob heads to the police station to seek revenge.
After the death of an 18-year-old in a police operation near Paris, dozens of young people attacked a guard with fireworks and Molotov cocktails late on Sunday evening. During the attack on the police station in the suburb of La Courneuve, garbage cans were also set on fire, the broadcaster BFMTV and the newspaper “Le Parisien” reported, citing the police. Accordingly, police forces from the surrounding area were brought together to end the clashes. There are said to have been six arrests. There are said to have been calls on social media to avenge the young man’s death.
In the neighboring town of Aubervilliers, an 18-year-old on a scooter was rammed head-on by a police car on Wednesday evening and fatally injured. The young man and a passenger initially ignored red lights and stop signs from a following police car. A taxi is said to have given way to an oncoming patrol car that had been called for reinforcements. The officers had to move into the opposite lane and collided with the scooter. While the Paris police prefect has so far seen no reason to doubt the emergency services’ account, relatives of the 18-year-old are accusing the police of intent.
The case brings back memories of the death of a 17-year-old during a police check near Paris in early summer last year. At that time, a police officer shot the young driver at close range. Afterwards, there were protests against police violence and serious riots that shook France for days and caused millions in damage. In many cities, young people took to the streets at night, and in addition to violent confrontations with the police, there was looting and arson attacks. The government then threatened to take tougher action against young offenders and their parents. Police violence, however, has not been discussed much by the government since the unrest.