Five nights of violence in Toulouse after arrest of niqab-wearer

Law of 2010-1192, is the “Act prohibiting concealment of the face in public space”, passed by the Senate of France on 14 September 2010, resulting in the ban on the wearing of face-covering headgear.

Thus people entering public spaces may not wear clothing that hides their face, but the woman resisted the police intervention. She was placed in custody and will appear before a magistrate in May for “rebellion, outrage and violence on a custodian person holding public authority”.

A video taken of the arrest shows the woman shouting and screaming insults at the police while resisting arrest. Within minutes, a group of protesters had formed  and the officers walled off the approaching crowd with tear gas grenades.

A few hours later, rioters started burning cars and garbage containers, with the ensuing unrest resulting in an attack on a police station in the area.

An Arab rioter, who filmed the scenes of violence, mocked law enforcement in the video: “We were worried they weren’t coming [the police], so we went to the commissariat to see if they’re ok. Apparently yes.”

When the police were summoned, skirmishes between police and rioters broke out. The police had to call in a unit that specializes in crowd and riot control, and a helicopter.

After three nights marked by riots and clashes between young immigrant youths and police, Mirail in Toulouse, the police were present in large numbers, including in the non-white suburbs of Reynerie and Bellefontaine. They searched the corridors of  social housing buildings, lit by the ultra-powerful search lights of the gendarmerie helicopter.

About fifteen cars were burned and the police made two arrests. There were no casualties reported. One youth said he “had fun” trying to blind a driver with a very powerful laser. The second arrested youth is 13 years old. He was trying to set a gas pipe on fire with a burning newspaper in Passage Pergaud at around 22:15.

Since Sunday, 26 people have been placed in police custody. Among them, a third are minors and three are members of the ultra-left. A man and a woman were arrested in Pathement Varese with bottles of acetone in their backpack.

Police spoke of “well-orchestrated ambushes”, with rioters arrested in possession of bottles filled with acetone, gas cannisters and mortars.

Wednesday evening, said the prefecture, the situation remained “very fragile in the neighbourhoods of Mirail”.

They added: “The police will remain massively present in the coming days to avoid any resumption of incidents”. The prefecture has also taken new measures concerning the regulation of distribution and transport of fuel as well as the possession and use of fireworks.

Heavy police presence (Screenshot from YouTube)

Despite the violence, the Toulouse city hall decided not to adopt a curfew for minors in the migrant-populated suburbs.

On Wednesday, the court sentenced a young migrant to 6 months’ imprisonment, including 3 months suspended for acts of willful violence against a person in charge of public authority, damage to public property, participation in a group for the preparation of violence against persons or destruction or damage to property.

In addition, four minors were presented by the juvenile prosecutor’s office to the juvenile judge with a view to indicting them.

The Toulouse public prosecutor said in a press release that three other individuals were arrested on Tuesday, but it appears as if they received only very light sentences. One was subjected to community service, and one sentenced to three months of imprisonment and the confiscation of his vehicle as part of pleading guilty. The last one was released.

The prosecutor said “(that) a minor is still in custody” for having committed acts of violence in the night of Wednesday to Thursday.

In addition, the prosecutor pointed out that the death of a second detainee in the hospital, made it “likely to have been at the root of this urban violence”, even though the death was ruled to be suicide. An autopsy was going to be performed.

The riots took place from Sunday night to Thursday night. There have been: 23 arrests, 76 burned cars, 200 police mobilised and almost a week of difficult sleep for the civilised habitants of the district.

Several of the cars were destroyed with Molotov cocktails at a local Citroen dealer. Bernard Boyer, the business manager is “desperate”. He told news outlet Ladepeche, previously during the 2005 riots, 6 cars had been burned at his business. Last week, Boyer counted damages of 110 000 euros.

A police commander said on Thursday that they were expecting the violence to stop soon, because, “drug trafficking is the main source of income of the neighbourhood” and “these kinds of incidents are not good for business”.

Rioting following arrests in migrant suburbs, are a common occurrence in France. In 2005, large-scale riots in Paris and throughout the country erupted after two criminals were electrocuted during a police chase. Almost 9 000 vehicles were torched and two civilians were killed by rioters.

Last year, on 4 February 2017, in a Paris surburb, riots followed the arrest of Théo L. by police using a baton.