Remember that little incident involving two yutes in Paris last fall? I wonder if this could set off something similar.
A plain clothes police officer shot into a crowd of skirmishing soccer fans Thursday as he tried to protect supporters of Hapoel Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring another, police said.
The 11 p.m. (2200 GMT) incident at a McDonald's fast food restaurant near the Parc des Princes stadium occurred after Hapoel Tel Aviv's 4-2 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in a UEFA Cup match.
The police officer, who was not identified, was trying to protect a Hapoel Tel Aviv fan set upon by some 150 PSG supporters, police said.
The rest of the story. 'Course, I don't know exactly who these fans were, so maybe this was just some of the ordinary French soccer scum expressing their appreciation of the visiting team.
Update: Melanie Phillips has more. It seems to have been a crowd of racist right wing French soccer scum. ISTR reports of similar soccer scum in Spain and Germany. Hmmm, the international sport, bringing nations together.
I confess I like the French words for shots, "coups de feu." Clint Eastwood should be so elegant.
4 comments:
Oh yeah, this could get out of hand. But I do have to say I have wondered how things in crowds can get out hand. Everything from Rodney King to to basketball win have lead to riots here for that matter.
I don't know if you have been following the statements of the police unions in France, but the stats they offer on officers injured in the line of duty against "the youth" are amazing. I can't remember the figure but it is several thousands in the last year: someone calculated a higher casualty rate for French police than American troops in Iraq.
But, it seems, they never kill anyone in self-defense or just general pissed-offedness (and French cops are supposed to be mean buggers), and those who are pelting them with bricks, etc., even firing guns, are injuring the cops but not killing them. It's a very queer state of affairs that I can't quite figure out. Everyone is afraid of Sudden Martyr Syndrome it seems and have been somehow disciplined enough to avoid it. But as you say, it only takes one.
Pastorius posted this at IBA:
From Daniel Pipes:
They go by the euphemistic term Zones Urbaines Sensibles, or Sensitive Urban Zones, with the even more antiseptic acronym ZUS, and there are 751 of them as of last count. They are convienently listed on one long webpage, complete with street demarcations and map delineations.
What are they? Those places in France that the French state does not control. They range from two zones in the medieval town of Carcassone to twelve in the heavily Muslim town of Marseilles, with hardly a town in France lacking in its ZUS. The ZUS came into existence in late 1996 and according to a 2004 estimate, nearly 5 million people live in them.
Comment: A more precise name for these zones would be Dar al-Islam, the place where Muslims rule.
Incremental bit by incremental bit, it advances. We are not dealing with mentally disadvantaged people, insane perhaps, but not deluded as to their goals.
Our ideals may prevent us from actions that would save us. Yes, a conundrum. Once the cold steel begins its journey, it will be too late. And, no, I do not think I am crazy. I do attempt to be objective. Though it may be hard to tell at times.
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