“Revenge for Nahel” – View of the Parisian Suburb of Montreuil: My Night with the Rioters

But that night – it’s almost three in the morning – Montreuil is furious. A handful of hooded youths in black jogging suits throw the contents of the nearest rubbish bin onto a pile of rubbish that has already been set on fire. The flames rose on a facade. But the ME keeps its distance. An angry slogan is written on the wall of the town hall: “Revenge for Nahel.”

The size of the fire

I decided to visit Montreuil in the middle of the night to witness the magnitude of the forest fire that followed the death of a boy of Algerian origin. The 17-year-old was shot dead on Tuesday morning during a police check in Nanterre. Nanterre is the opposite of Montreuil. It is located west of Paris, on the edge of the La Defense business district. Montreuil, a stronghold of the former red suburbs, lies to the east of the metropolis. But both neighborhoods were ravaged by the same hatred and flames last night.

I stopped to talk to youths standing in front of City Hall, iron bars in hand, face to face with police units in attack formation. A group of looters come out of a store with boxes under the arm. They pass us. No sign of aggressiveness. they just laugh. And wants to “fuck the cops”. By destroying as much as possible.

The owner of an Asian restaurant preferred to sleep in his sushi bar. A North African publican decided to recruit men from the neighborhood, who lined up in front of his shop, which is still intact. And the rest of the store? The iron blinds of a shop have just been flung open. A young man with a hood pulled low over his face and a cloth that reaches from his chin to his eyes hits a torn traffic sign with an iron bar. The noise must wake everyone on the street.

A local resident can be heard: “It’s war. The police have tricked you…», then a hellish scratching sound on the asphalt. A dozen youths drag barriers behind them. They boast that they are two blocks away. set fire to a vehicle. I am right in the middle of their team. No one attacks me. A motorcyclist drives between burning garbage cans as if in a slalom. The skeleton of a burnt-out car blocks the road. A local resident claims that the small Renault burned for at least ten minutes, then the fire brigade arrived.

Organized in commands

All shutters are down. No one in this otherwise lively district around the town hall of Montreuil dares to look outside. The young rebels, the “Avengers of Nahel”, come from here. Of these buildings. from these settlements. They are divided into commands. You want to break something. Theft excites her. They mainly want the police to respond. So much for an idle wish.

These young people are only violent towards the police. you don’t speak Everyone avoids answering questions.

Hundreds of arrests were made overnight across France. In Nanterre, the “white march” in honor of Nahel ended in a sea of ​​tear gas. Here: nothing of the sort. Society is falling apart. The neighborhood appears to have been cleared for demolition. With loot in hand, young people brag to the police. Their slogans: “Fuck the police”, “Death to the police!” Curfews in several cities have not prevented the unrest. The state of emergency could be declared in the next few hours. Like all other cities hit by urban violence in the past two days, Montreuil has also been held hostage.

Awaiting the next night.