Spontaneous Riot at Gare du Nord

On Tuesday 27th of March 2007, at nearly 16:30, an "ordinary" ticket inspection at "Gare du Nord" train station turned into a riot that would last until late in the evening. Witnesses said that a 33 year old man ("sans-papier" according to mainstream media reports) and/or a 15 year old boy tried to flee from the ticket inspectors but were violently held.

The bullying behavior of the inspectors inspired many travellers to attempt to support those being held. The police reinforcements were called but the people supporting those arrested also called for reinforcements.

Contrary to the laissez-faireism and resignation usually seen in suchsituations, many metropolitan users disobeyed calls to "move along" and avoid being involved, instead there was a defiant uprising.

The wave of police force that followed "accompanied by teargas and flashball" only emphasized this spontaneous burst of rage. Several hundred people (200 to 400, depending on witnesses) fought the cops in the basement of the train station and in the connected metropolitan station for eight hours into the night.

People shouting "Sarkozy, fils de pute !", "Police partout, justice nulle part !" or "A bas, l'Etat, les flics et les patrons !" (TN: "Sarkozy, son of a bitch!", "Police everywhere, justice nowhere!", "Shutdown the State, the cops and the bosses").

The station was wrecked during the battle, with many advertising panels destroyed (in particular an advert for newspaper "L'Express" displaying Sarkozy on the cover).

[Note: Sarkozy is the main right-wing candidate for the next presidential election, he was the minister of police and interior security during autumn 2005 riots and during the spring 2006 anti-CPE movement.]

Just like for the uprising of autumn 2005, some media and politicians responded yet again with racist speeches, "ethnicising" the riot, but the rioters, though they were young, were of every color!

No doubt many were people who suffer continuous inspections and pains of Paris suburbs: it was a popular riot!

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