France riots: Police killing of 17-year-old boy in Nanterre is catalyst for wanton destruction
It was past 2am when the fires and disorder of Nanterre came to our doorstep and lit up the sky, bringing devastation in its wake. This is a corner of France where anger and anarchy have taken a grip.
The middle of the night, but none of our team were asleep. It’s very hard to drift off when the tranquillity of night is so often punctuated by the sounds of fireworks and sirens, but then came different noises – the crackle of fire and the pops of small explosions.
The hotel where our team is staying overlooks the depot of an energy company. Parked there, protected by a tall wire fence, were a dozen vans next to a warehouse building. And now, through the night, an orange glow was getting ever bigger.
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Violent protests spread over teen killing
My colleague, the Europe news editor Sophie Garratt, was the first to hear the noise, looked out of her window and saw three people running away from the depot. Muffled words exchanged as they fled.
They had done what so many others did in Nanterre last night – lit a fire. We’d seen plenty of them that evening – bins dragged and set ablaze; roads blocked. Symbols of defiance.
But this was something very different. As we watched, the fire rapidly expanded. It consumed vehicle after vehicle. Pop went the tyres; bang went the fuel. Windows blown out. Red, orange, blue and green flames getting ever bigger.
Pic: Marc Hofer
We opened the window to see better what was happening, but the smoke was an acrid blend of molten fuel, rubber, metal, plastic and tarmacadam. Smell that for a few moments, and you want to close the window.
By now, the fire had turned into an inferno. In the corridor, some guests began to panic. “We’re getting out of here,” one man shouts through the open door. “This whole place is going to go up.”
Pic: Marc Hofer
A few minutes later, we see his car driving off, along with others.
As it turns out, he’s wrong. The fire service arrive. At first, it’s just one man, who surveys the scene and then returns with a hose and a second firefighter. They try to contain it, but it’s an uphill battle in the face of regular, unpredictable explosions as fuel tanks rupture.
But then more people arrive with more equipment. A cherry picker looms over us. And gradually, by about 4am, the battle is being won and the flames are dying down.
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Pic: Marc Hofer
What’s left behind is the smouldering wreckage of, I would guess, the best part of a million pound’s worth of vans and equipment. Who knows what damage has been done that we couldn’t see?
In some ways, they’re lucky. The warehouse itself is scorched, but still intact. The neighbouring buildings, including our hotel, didn’t catch light. But when the owner and employees come to look at the ashes and wreckage, I don’t imagine they’ll feel lucky.
This was wanton destruction, but it’s tied up with so many strands that you can’t simply write it off as vandalism.
Pic: Marc Hofer
In Nanterre, like other Paris suburbs and other French towns, there are plenty of people who feel marginalised, forgotten or discriminated against. Crime is high; literacy is low.
And when you get an event like the killing of 17-year-old Nahel, that becomes a catalyst.
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Clashes in France over teen’s death
Combine that with hot, dry evenings and you have the perfect ingredients for disaffected young people to take to the streets.
Nahel’s killing was, itself, rather like an act of arson. It started the fire of fury that has now engulfed this area for two nights in a row, along with other towns across France.
The question is, how long it will go on for? But, as we watched those flames devour so many things in such a short space of time, one thing was very obvious – conflagrations like this are much easier to start than they are to extinguish.
World
Donald Trump threatens sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on first day in office
Conor McGregor has spoken out after losing a civil rape case as a feminist march was held in Dublin.
The MMA fighter was accused of raping Nikita Hand, who was awarded €248,603 (£206,000) in damages on Friday after a jury at Dublin’s High Court found McGregor assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in 2018.
Nikita Hand.
Pic: PA
Posting on social media, the 36-year-old said: “I know I made mistakes”.
It comes as hundreds of people in Dublin staged a demonstration in “utter solidarity” with Ms Hand.
Posting on X, McGregor said: “People want to hear from me, I needed time. I know I made mistakes. Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love the most in the world. That’s all on me.
“As much as I regret it, everything that happened that night was consensual and all the witnesses present swore to that under oath. I have instructed my legal team to appeal the decision.
“I can’t go back and I will move forward. I am beyond grateful to my family, friends and supporters all over the world who have stayed by my side.
“That’s it. No more. Getting back to the gym- the fight game awaits!”
Conor McGregor (centre) and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court in Dublin after he lost a civil case.
Pic: PA
Speaking outside court after the decision, an emotional Ms Hand said the two-week-long civil case had been a “nightmare” but that “justice has been served”.
“It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life,” she added.
In Dublin on Monday night, a march in support of Ms Hand was organised by the socialist feminist movement group Rosa to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The demonstration in Dublin.
Pic: PA
Ruth Coppinger (left) and Natasha O’Brien at the solidarity march.
Pic: PA
Participants chanted “stand with Nikita” and “no more fear, no more shaming, we reject your victim blaming” as they carried signs and banners through the capital’s streets.
Ruth Coppinger, a councillor and general election candidate, and Natasha O’Brien, who became a public figure after a soldier received a suspended sentence for assaulting her, both spoke at the event.
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Ms Coppinger said Ms Hand was “an incredibly brave woman” and that she was watching the event via a live stream.
Ms O’Brien was cheered as she said she’d been “in awe” of Ms Hand’s courage and that Ireland had let out a collective “sigh of relief” after the jury found in Ms Hand’s favour.
McGregor was accused of having “brutally raped and battered” Ms Hand.
She was taken in an ambulance to the Rotunda Hospital the following day where the paramedic who assessed her told the court she had not seen “someone so bruised” in a long time.
Following eight days of evidence, and three days of closing speeches and the judge’s instructions to the jury, the jury of eight women and four men spent six hours and ten minutes deliberating before returning their verdict.
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