Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
FT editor Roula Khalaf has chosen her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Violence broke out across France for the third night in a row, once again exposing the country’s deep social tensions amid increasing political polarization.
Recent protests show that France’s poor and ethnically mixed regions remain a powder keg, torn by feelings of injustice, racism and abandonment. While shocking, the criminal chaos has yet to reach the scale of 2005, when more than 10,000 cars were torched and more than 230 public buildings damaged during three weeks of violence. But authorities are understandably concerned about a recurrence.
This week’s unrest, like 18 years ago, was sparked by the death of a non-white teenager following a police chase. This time, the power of social media to spread social unrest is different. The far right is also more powerful than he was in 2005. And this time, President Emmanuel Macron and his government are seeking to defuse tensions rather than inflame them.
In 2005, then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy described young people involved in riots at a housing estate on the outskirts of Paris as “scum” who needed to be “eliminated.” Days later, two teenagers, one Mauritanian and one Tunisian, were electrocuted while hiding from police at an electricity substation on the northeastern outskirts of the capital. President Sarkozy and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin sided with police and suggested the two boys were thieves.
In contrast, President Macron called the shooting death of a 17-year-old boy from North Africa by police in Nanterre, northwest of Paris, as he fled in a car. “Inexcusable” and “inexplicable”. The police officer has been suspended and is under investigation on suspicion of murder.
Mr Macron has been attacked by right-wing opposition parties and police unions for ignoring the presumption of innocence and accused of betraying police. But the need for the president’s intervention became clear after a video of the shooting was posted on social media, contradicting the initial explanation from law enforcement officials that the officer fired his gun because his life was in danger. It was clearly a contradiction. Demonstrating no tolerance for police violence is a necessary, if not sufficient, first step toward restoring social order.
Some experts blame Tuesday’s shootings on a law passed in 2017, before Macron came to power. This appears to give police the power to fire if a passenger disobeys police orders and endangers the officer’s life.
Macron’s critics say he, along with hardline interior minister Gerard Darmanin, coddled a dysfunctional police force, calculating that if they didn’t, it would fall into the hands of the far right. You might want to argue that. But there is plenty of recent evidence of police deficiencies. Excessive use of force during anti-government demonstrations. racist violence, including a violent assault on a black music producer that was caught on camera; Incompetent security police as seen in last year’s Champions League final. This is a breakdown in trust with local residents, but there is a possibility that it can be restored by shifting to community policing. Police are not only understaffed but also poorly trained. The high degree of far-right support among police officers is also a cause for concern.
The riots are a reminder of deep social and economic problems in France’s poorer areas and a long legacy of government neglect. Since Mr Macron came to power in 2017, there have been achievements, particularly in reducing overall and youth unemployment rates. But even when finances are tight, persistent poverty, crime, racism, and declining educational standards require more government attention and resources. The Quartier 2030 plan for these regions, promised by President Macron, is slow to materialize.
None of these issues justifies widespread violence. Some young people who fight with police on the streets may feel righteous anger. Others will simply enjoy the thrill and enjoy sharing it on social media even more. The longer the riots go on, the harder it will be for the government to resist taking a tougher response. Spreading unrest can only help the far right, which has every interest in stirring up political momentum and hints of civil war.
ben.hall@ft.com