Riots at Gare du Nord
Riots erupted at the Gare du Nord, one of the main commuting hub of Paris (suburban trains, express trains -RER- and metro) around 4:30pm, after a passenger travelling without ticket was caught. He apparently resisted violently, hurting 2 controllers, before the police intervened. Subsequently, other passengers protested his arrest in front of the room where he was detained, claiming excessive force was used, and the confrontation escalated over the hours, with widespread vandalism and assaults on the riot police. At the peak of the rioting, there were 200 to 300 people participating, and many more watching.
I only got there at 8:30pm and it was relatively quiet but tense, except for a few provocations (bottles, flower pots, etc. thrown at the police, a couple of trash cans burnt down). The police charged a few times and used a little tear-gas once to clear up the place, but it wasn't completely settled when I left at 10:30 (and apparently, calm only returned around 1am).
At least 9 people have been arrested and some police officers and RATP agents were slightly hurt.
[Update]: the man at the origin of the incidents was apparently not in an irregular situation, as originally alleged by the Interior Minister: according to his lawyer, he was supposed to obtain his "carte de séjour" on April 5 as part of a "regroupement familial".
Another thing: in her report , according to Le Monde , the commissaire Rachel Costard in charge of the operations insists that "tear gases were NEVER used at any moment": this is plain wrong. I personally saw (and felt !) the police using tear gas in the main gallery at least once (around 21:30, I think). And I saw in 2 different occasions people crying with with red eyes after breathing tear gases.
[more update]: apparently, the term "teargas" is used by the police to refer to grenades, and doesn't include the use of the hand-held "bombs" (canisters ?). This is why "technically", tear gas has not been used.
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Featured in an article in Le Figaro and in Le Monde, 2 of the leading French newspapers :-)
I only got there at 8:30pm and it was relatively quiet but tense, except for a few provocations (bottles, flower pots, etc. thrown at the police, a couple of trash cans burnt down). The police charged a few times and used a little tear-gas once to clear up the place, but it wasn't completely settled when I left at 10:30 (and apparently, calm only returned around 1am).
At least 9 people have been arrested and some police officers and RATP agents were slightly hurt.
[Update]: the man at the origin of the incidents was apparently not in an irregular situation, as originally alleged by the Interior Minister: according to his lawyer, he was supposed to obtain his "carte de séjour" on April 5 as part of a "regroupement familial".
Another thing: in her report , according to Le Monde , the commissaire Rachel Costard in charge of the operations insists that "tear gases were NEVER used at any moment": this is plain wrong. I personally saw (and felt !) the police using tear gas in the main gallery at least once (around 21:30, I think). And I saw in 2 different occasions people crying with with red eyes after breathing tear gases.
[more update]: apparently, the term "teargas" is used by the police to refer to grenades, and doesn't include the use of the hand-held "bombs" (canisters ?). This is why "technically", tear gas has not been used.
_____________________________
Featured in an article in Le Figaro and in Le Monde, 2 of the leading French newspapers :-)
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