More Soccer Violence

On Wednesday Algeria won a soccer match against Egypt. The game took place in Sudan, but the French police anticipated a violent night in France, whether Algeria won or lost. According to Le Figaro 63 persons were arrested in Paris alone:

The demonstrations involved 3000 persons in the ghetto of Barbès and 12,000 on the Champs-Elysées. The police intervened quickly and arrested those who were throwing projectiles and committing acts of destruction, indicated the Prefecture of Police.

Four store fronts were damaged on the Champs-Elysées.

Despite a few burnt cars and fights (hey! What's one more burnt car especially if it isn't yours?) the northern city of Lille celebrated without incident. Another northern city, Roubaix, however, fared less well. A local paper, La Voix du Nord, reports:

(...) Everything began well. (...) But around 9:00 p.m. in the downtown area (cordoned off by police and gendarmes) the first confrontation took place between police and "young people" who threw glass bottles. Most incidents took place in the Epeule neighborhood where the streets were plunged into darkness after the game. Stones hurled at firemen who came to put out trash can fires and burning cars, broken storefronts, cars pillaged: an unleashing of violence. The police proceeded to make some arrests.

Note: The city of Roubaix has been in the hands of immigrants for a long time. The violence there is routine.

For those who read French, this article from Le Parisien gives a rundown, city by city, of the violence that took place on Wednesday after the game. The final toll is considerably higher than the two bland articles quoted above lead us to believe. According to Europe 1 Radio just the number of torched cars was higher than 330. I will try to post more details later tonight or tomorrow.

Meanwhile, look at this short video, posted at François Desouche of the ghetto of Barbès in Paris. It's terrifying: