[Onthebarricades] Uprising at French rail station over police violence

[Andy]

I wish this happened when they do ticket crackdowns in Britain!  The public 
are far too passive here.

Notice as always that the right condone police violence but condemn 
resistance on principle - showing they have no problem with totalitarian 
tendencies in the state (and notice too how the social principle - the idea 
of social solidarity - is especially hated by Sarkozy).  At least in France 
this is still countered and rebounds politically on rightists "with the Left 
claiming that Nicolas Sarkozy's repressive policies have brought anti-police 
sentiment to an all-time high.".  (though of course this is too little - why 
is "anti-police sentiment" opposed, when even today they are batoning 
passersby and sending random commuters to hospital from teargas?)

"Zidou said the violence had echoes of the riots in 2005. "They never 
finished," he said. "It slowed down a bit, but it was never over."



The possibility of clashes is also inbuilt in surveillance, repression and 
immigration policies - of course someone declared illegal simply for where 
they are, will be desperate to avoid arrest; of course displays of state 
violence will antagonize onlookers; of course, poverty causes autoreduction 
as a blow for freedom of movement - such things are a mystery only to those 
who want humiliation to be so deep as to preclude agency!

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20070329174941338

Class and race riot: Paris gare du nord
Thursday, March 29 2007 @ 05:49 PM PDT
Contributed by: Anonymous
Views: 135
On Tuesday, 27th of March 2007, around 4 p.m., a "routine" ticket control at 
gare du Nord turned into riot until late at night: a black man (30 years old 
immigrant without legal status according to mainstream media, teenager 
around 15 years old according eyewitnesses) was controlled and had no Metro 
ticket, he tried to escape. Inspectors blocked him, according to the 
eyewitness he was beaten. (In France, beatings of immigrants, people of 
color, poor and working class people by patrols of police is routine. As 
well as verbal abuse, humiliation in public places etc.) It seems that he 
defended himself.

Paris : Emeute populaire à la gare du Nord
Paris : Popular riot at Gare du Nord (Train and subway station)

On Tuesday, 27th of March 2007, around 4 p.m., a "routine" ticket control at 
gare du Nord turned into riot until late at night: a black man (30 years old 
immigrant without legal status according to mainstream media, teenager 
around 15 years old according eyewitnesses) was controlled and had no Metro 
ticket, he tried to escape. Inspectors blocked him, according to the 
eyewitness he was beaten. (In France, beatings of immigrants, people of 
color, poor and working class people by patrols of police is routine. As 
well as verbal abuse, humiliation in public places etc.) It seems that he 
defended himself.

He was spontaneously supported by a lot of travelers and ordinary citizens 
who were on the scene. People shouted at the Police, asking them to stop 
their aggression on poor people, or shouting anti-right wing, anti-racist 
slogans.

Cops reacted as usual with arrogance and hatred for the people. Police 
called reinforcement but people on the scene called reinforcement too! (The 
poor suburbs are only a few minutes away by subway)

Police attacked unarmed people with flash balls and CS gas. French military 
troops, who are invading public spaces for years now, were also there with 
their FAMAS automatic rifles. Police was using the dogs to attack the 
people. The aggression made people very angry and fearless.
Some witnesses were surprised by the fearless of the rioters, despite the 
fact that being arrested and put on trial , young poor POC or white poor, 
could expect months of prison or a couple of years. And people can be also 
badly beaten, tortured etc. in police stations.
(But the hard situation for working class makes people more and more angry 
toward the rich, their politicians and the arrogant media machine of lies 
and deception. Middle class, as everywhere in Europe and America, is under 
attack by the bourgeoisie, POC are treated as sub humans and the Police 
State is growing endlessly)

Fights between police and hundreds of people mainly POC from Arab and 
African origins including girls and women, but also poor working class youth 
(between 200 and 500) lasted 8 hours on the various floors of the train and 
subway station. All sorts of people were shouting antipolice slogans but not 
necessarily taking part in the riot.

People were shouting slogans such as « Sarkozy, fils de pute !" (Sarkozy son 
of a bitch), "Police partout, justice nulle part !" (Police everywhere, 
justice nowhere) or "A bas l'Etat, les flics et les patrons !" (No more 
State, cops and bosses).

According to witnesses it was an atmosphere of insurrection.

According to mainstream journalists and to eyewitness, the situation was out 
of control for the police during many hours despite heavy reinforcements. 
Police charged randomly and attacked bystanders (including a young man 
walking with his pregnant wife who testified in front of the media, his face 
covered with blood) but very few arrests were made. The police forces 
(around 300 hundreds according to eyewitness) were busy trying to control 
the territory while confronted with very mobile cells of people.

The train station was ransacked during the fights, many ads panels were 
broken (ads for the neoconservative paper "L'express" were largely 
targeted), other symbols of the oppressive state and capitalism were 
destroyed. Some girls were seen trashing computers and machine from the 
SNCF, the state transportation company that collaborates in the anti-poor, 
anti-immigrants, anti-POC profiling and targeting.

(One has to understand that for poor people, people on welfare as well as 
people on minimum salary or lower middle class it is IMPOSSIBLE to pay 
transportation tickets to go to work or to move through the city. In 
addition the state is more and more aggressive against non-payers and racism 
profiling in public places goes is a daily business and unpunished)

People threw all furniture available on the riot police to defend against 
state aggression. Some rioters threw large plant pots (size of 50 cm) from 
the upper floors of the station, to force police to retreat.

People put a control office on fire, slogans covered the walls in the 
stations: one could read "Victory of the people against the bourgeois state" 
, "Chirac is a thief", "The government is a crook" etc.

At 10 pm, the smell of CS gas did not succeeded in dispersing small cells of 
rioters. A shoes store had been looted. Video surveillance cameras were 
destroyed, including the round black "360" types that were smashed.

As the traffic of trains and subway trains was not completely stopped, every 
5 minutes groups of passengers were passing, mixing with the angry crowd and 
cells, many passengers stopped, looked at the fights, insulted the cops, as 
this French African father wearing a suit who was seen throwing something in 
the face of cops with a stream of insults. The environnement was hard to 
control for the cops. As well as for the people: feeling of being trapped in 
a building of concrete with cops everywhere, mainstream journalists with 
their cameras everywhere, video surveillance on each floor. One could see a 
cop carrying on of his colleague, badly hurt, on his back !

Finally police took over all floors. People moved on the square in front of 
the station.

Later a small barricade was put on fire in the street: a girl had found an 
old sofa and decided to put it on fire in the street, people came to help, 
bringing things such as wooden doors, pieces of wood etc.

Some people stopped a bus at the corner of St-Denis and Lafayette, and 
started arguing about the idea of destroying it, probably to make a 
barricade. It was not.

Some people could be seen running after an isolated police car, fleeing a 
cell of twenty angry rioters. Then 10 buses of anti-riot police arrive at 
high speed. The last rioters block the street with a barricade and then 
disperse in the city.

End for now.

10 arrested people need support against State and Capitalist repression.

AC (Agir contre le Chomage, "Act against Unemployment, a grass root and 
radical "union" of poor people, issued a statement calling for free 
transportation for all citizens

RATP (Network for the Abolition of Paying Public Transportation) issued a 
similar statement and claimed its support for "those who refused one more 
time to be submitted to the daily humiliation and violence coming from the 
ticket inspectors and police and military forces"

Anarchists groups such as the "Federation Anarchiste" or the radical union 
CNT are struggling for free public transportation and for self-managed 
public services.

http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=78614

A pretty fair video (the only one) from a mainstream TV channel:

* JT de BFMTV, 23h le 27 mars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuEz0TYBWZQ

VIDEO NO COMMENT: The pigs attacking with their dogs and our proud POC and 
proletarian youth, hungry, pissed of and refusing daily submission under the 
boot of the rich, white, terrorist men leading the planet to death:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6jTEBJRzt0&mode=related&search=

PICTURES FROM INDYMEDIA PARIS :
http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=78533

VIDEO NO COMMENTS:
End of riot: fascist police charging, shouting, taking control, beating 
people
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/gare%2Bdu%2Bnord/video/x1kfck_affrontements-gare-du-nord



More:
http://paris.indymedia.org
On Indymedia-Paris :
* 8 heures d'émeutes et affontements à la gare du Nord
http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=78534
* Gare du Nord, 23 h 15 - 00 h 45
http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=78529
* Gare du Nord, temoignage
http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=78528
* Emeute à Gare du Nord
http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=78503
* Gare du Nord... la police veille au grain
http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=78500
In the mainstream press :
* Scènes d'émeutes Gare du Nord (TF1/LCI)
http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/france/faits-divers/0,,3421296,00-scenes-emeutes-gare-nord-.html
* Emeutes à la gare du Nord à Paris (Reuters)
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/27032007/290/emeutes-a-la-gare-du-nord-a-paris.html
* Un contrôle de billet tourne à l'affrontement entre police et jeunes à la 
gare du Nord (AFP)
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/27032007/202/un-controle-de-billet-tourne-l-affrontement-entre-police-et.html
* Incidents entre jeunes et policiers gare du Nord à Paris (Associated 
Press)
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/27032007/5/incidents-entre-jeunes-et-policiers-gare-du-nord-paris.html
* Emeutes : le regard désabusé de Yasmina, 23 ans (TF1/LCI)
http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/france/faits-divers/0,,3421660,00-emeutes-regard-desabuse-yasmina-ans-.html
* Des émeutes et des candidats (RFI)
http://www.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/087/article_50650.asp
Pictures :
* Photos des émeutes dans la gare du Nord
http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=78533
* Photos des émeutes, sur le site du journal "20 minutes"
http://www.20minutes.fr/diaporama/GARE-DU-NORD/pages/page_1.php
* Photos de dehors, autour de la gare du Nord, vers 23h30
http://thibautcho.free.fr/FFSF/?album=2oo7_o3_27_Gare_du_Nord_11h30
Videos :
* Vidéo indépendante (portable) : Face aux flics
http://video.google.fr/videoplay?docid=-211769719515056883&q
* Vidéo indépendante (portable) : "Sarko, fils de pute"
http://video.google.fr/videoplay?docid=-6014202246381003770&hl=fr
* Vidéo indépendante (portable) : Après les lacrymos des flics...
http://video.google.fr/videoplay?docid=799568361347037881&hl=fr
* Des images prises le 27 mars par l'AFP
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/gare%2Bdu%2Bnord/video/x1kfck_affrontements-gare-du-nord
* JT de TF1, vers 20h le 27 mars
http://www.dailymotion.com/visited/search/emeute%2Bgare%2Bnord/video/x1k91a_emeutes-gare-du-nord-270307
* JT de BFMTV, 22h le 27 mars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-hdgkZf3zA
* JT de I-Télé, 22h30 le 27 mars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeeP2W_XlvE
* JT de BFMTV, 23h le 27 mars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuEz0TYBWZQ
* JT de LCI, 1h30 le 28 mars



=============================================

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/03/28/paris-riots-070328.html

Train ticket dispute erupts into riot on Paris streets
Last Updated: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 | 10:42 AM ET
CBC News
Paris police in riot gear fired tear gas into crowds of youths during a 
melee that tore through the city's Gare du Nord train station - a clash 
apparently sparked by a dispute over a rail ticket.
The incident, which underscored the city's socio-economic tensions, began on 
Tuesday when a young man without a rail ticket punched a Metro attendant 
conducting a routine inspection, Paris public transport officials said.
"The inspectors were hit with projectiles, as were the officers who came to 
assist them," Force Ouvrière police union spokesman Luc Poignant said.
But youths at the station contested the police account, saying they had come 
to the aid of the young man - who they said was of North African descent - 
because police were using excessive force during the arrest. Some claimed 
officers broke his arm while manhandling him.
By Tuesday evening, the situation had escalated from a scuffle inside one of 
the city's main transport hubs to pandemonium that spilled onto the Paris 
streets. Gangs lit fires, smashed property and looted shops as riot teams 
brandishing batons tried to control the mayhem.
Police ended up arresting 13 people but said the riots involved about 100 
people. Travellers in the Metro station, meanwhile, continued dragging their 
luggage over broken glass and strewn garbage to head to their destinations. 
Commuter lines closed for several hours, but the long-distance rail hub and 
the Eurostar terminal remained open throughout.
Commuter Cyril Zidou, a 24-year-old electrician, said he was coming home 
from the gym "when I just got gassed." Paramedics also treated one woman who 
had inhaled tear gas.
Witnesses said the chaos bore reminders of the 2005 civil unrest in France, 
when youth bands, many of whom were of North African origin, set cars on 
fire and trashed buildings in poor areas of the country. The uprisings 
prompted the government to call a national state of emergency.
"They never finished," Zidou said of the 2005 riots, which were meant to 
protest sentiment among poor Arab and African communities that France was a 
racist society. "It slowed down a bit, but it was never over."
Tuesday's violence did not appear directly related to France's presidential 
election to be held in less than four weeks. A new leader will take power in 
May.
===========================================================
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article2402899.ece
Sarkozy's policies blamed for riot at Eurostar terminal

Thursday, March 29, 2007
By John Lichfield
A running fight between police and youths at a Paris railway station amid 
distraught commuters and tourists turned into a pitched political battle 
yesterday, casting a shadow over the forthcoming presidential elections.
For several hours on Tuesday night, police fought a group of about 300 
youths in the subterranean passages and shopping centres of the Gare du 
Nord, the terminus for Eurostar trains from London.
Windows were smashed, a sports shop was looted, tear gas was fired and 
innocent passengers were accidentally struck by police batons after youths 
objected to the allegedly brutal arrest of a man without a ticket.
Passengers - including many from Britain - milled around in confusion as the 
Gare du Nord Metro station was closed and tear gas wafted along the 
underground corridors. There were two waves of violence, leading to 13 
arrests. The clashes were used by politicians of left and far right to 
attack Nicolas Sarkozy, a centre-right candidate in the presidential 
elections scheduled for 22 April and 6 May. His opponents claim the riot was 
the product of tensions between police and youths in the multi-racial 
suburbs - tensions generated by Mr Sarkozy's policies and comments as 
Interior Minister.
The rioting youths initially objected to the level of force used against the 
ticketless passenger (later identified as a 32-year-old illegal immigrant 
from Congo).
There was a second wave of violence later in the evening, when gangs of 
youths roamed the station, chanting slogans against Mr Sarkozy and smashing 
windows. Some of them began to cry "Foot Locker! Foot Locker!" before 
looting a Foot Locker store of its running shoes and sports clothes.
Mr Sarkozy, who leads the opinion polls, stood down afrom his post as 
Interior Minister (equivalent to Home Secretary) on Monday to concentrate on 
the campaign. He said the riot was the result of years of allowing suburban 
gangs "to do what they like". He praised police for imposing a "minimum of 
order, respect, authority and calm".
The fighting at the Gare du Nord, mostly involving youths of African and 
north African origin, rekindled memories of the three weeks of rioting that 
swept the poor suburbs of French cities in November 2005.
Gare du Nord is the mainline Paris terminus for trains to and from London, 
Brussels and northern France, but it is also the suburban station for the 
towns north-east of Paris, where the civil unrest began in 2005.
Police said that the ticketless passenger was intercepted by two Paris Metro 
ticket inspectors and then tried to headbutt one of them. He was arrested by 
police. Groups of youths who congregate at the station saw him being dragged 
along the ground.
One eyewitness said the rumour spread that the arrested man was a 
13-year-old and that his arm had been broken by police. The initial unrest 
was calmed by tear gas and baton charges but other youths arrived at the 
station later in the evening and began systematically to smash windows and 
automatic ticket machines.
Julien Dray, spokesman for the Socialist presidential candidate, Ségolène 
Royal, said the incidents "illustrated the climate of tension and the gulf 
of violence which has been created between the police and the people".
Whatever the rights and wrongs, the incidents could be politically damaging 
for Mr Sarkozy. He is detested by many people in the poor suburbs of French 
cities, after calling youth gangs "scum" several weeks before the 2005 
riots.
There is now a widespread fear, on both the left and on the centre-right, 
that a Sarkozy presidency might generate or provide the excuse for more 
violence in French cities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/03/29/2003354347

French riot police clash with youths at Gare du Nord

AP, PARIS
Thursday, Mar 29, 2007, Page 6
Riot police firing tear gas and brandishing batons clashed on Tuesday with 
bands of youths who shattered windows and looted shops at a major Paris 
train station. Officials said nine people were arrested.
Officers and police dogs charged at groups of marauding youths, some of them 
wearing hoods, who mingled with commuters and travelers at the Gare du 
Nord -- one of Paris' most important transport hubs.
As Tuesday shifted into yesterday and officers cleared the station, the 
melee spilled out onto the surrounding streets. Police ordered spectators to 
disperse and threatened to charge as small groups of youths set fire to 
wooden barricades and garbage cans and pelted passing tourist buses with 
sticks.
Earlier on Tuesday, in the station, youths threw trash cans and other 
objects at officers and set fire to an information booth.
One woman was evacuated by paramedics for tear gas inhalation.
Groups of dazed tourists and commuters negotiated overturned garbage cans 
and downed potted plants, dragging their bags over the glass-strewn floors.
Cyril Zidou, a 24-year-old electrician, said he was coming home from the gym 
"when I just got gassed."
Youths broke windows of a sports-goods store, reaching through the shattered 
glass to grab boxes of shoes. Passers-by also joined in the looting.
Into the late evening, groups of officers were still periodically charging 
youths who took flight in stairwells and other parts of the station. Paris 
police said officers made nine arrests.
The violence did not appear directly related to France's presidential 
election in under four weeks, but highlighted the social and economic 
tensions that the country's new leader will inherit when he or she takes 
power in May.
Lines from Gare du Nord radiate out to the same suburbs north of Paris where 
rioting erupted in 2005. That violence was born of pent-up anger --  
especially among youths of immigrant origin -- over years of high 
unemployment and inequalities. Those issues have both figured in the 
presidential campaign.
A Paris city hall official said about 100 people were involved in the 
violence late on Tuesday evening.
Hundreds more milled around the station, watching the pandemonium. Some 
youths swung metal bars. They attacked automatic drink dispensers, smashed 
windows and lights. Some trash cans were set on fire.
Mohamed Mamouni, a shopkeeper, said he was bedding down overnight in his 
cellphone store to guard it. He said he chased away youths who smashed a 
hole in his window.
"I arrived just in time," he said.
The clashes forced subway and commuter lines to skip their stops at the 
station for several hours. Its long-distance rail hub and terminal for 
Eurostar trains that go to Britain were unaffected.
The melee started after a man without a Metro ticket punched two inspectors 
during a routine ticket check, said officials from Paris' RATP public 
transport authority. Youths attacked the inspectors and later turned on 
police officers patrolling the station.
"The inspectors were hit with projectiles, as were the officers who came to 
assist them," said Luc Poignant, an official for the Force Ouvriere police 
union.
Police said the ticket-less man was in custody.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
http://news.bostonherald.com/international/europe/view.bg?articleid=191380
Rioting in Paris becomes presidential campaign issue
By Associated Press
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - Updated: 12:42 PM EST

PARIS - It began with a routine ticket check at a Paris train station. What 
happened next _ rioting, looting, tear gas _ showed the anger that erupted 
into violence in France's troubled neighborhoods in 2005 still smolders 
beneath the surface.

    The rampage by youths, many apparently of African or North African 
descent, at a major rail hub Tuesday became an instant campaign issue in the 
French presidential race. It was a jarring reminder of the social tensions 
France's new leader will contend with when he or she takes power in May.

    Front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy of the governing right called the violence 
at the Gare du Nord unacceptable. His main rival, Socialist Segolene Royal, 
blamed Sarkozy's camp, saying the right's policing policies were an utter 
failure.



    Anger erupted after a 32-year-old man without a Metro ticket punched two 
inspectors during a routine check, police said. The man, an illegal alien 
from Congo who has challenged France's efforts to expel him, had been 
convicted in 2004 for insulting a magistrate, police unions said.

    Dozens of youths gathered to defend the man from ticket agents, and the 
group swelled to 300 people and grew more and more aggressive, police said.

    The youths wielded metal bars, smashed windows, looted stores and 
injured eight train agents and a police officer, police authorities said.

    Rail lines connect Gare du Nord to the same troubled suburbs north of 
Paris that were gripped by rioting in October and November 2005. That 
violence was born of pent-up anger _ especially among youths of Arab and 
African origin _ over years of high unemployment, racial discrimination and 
economic inequality.

    Since then, sporadic incidents have broken out in suburbs that many 
middle-class French people avoid. The violence at Gare du Nord was unusual 
because it is in the heart of Paris, the terminal for Eurostar trains 
linking France to Britain.

    Far-right presidential candidate Philippe de Villiers, who wants to stop 
immigration to France, said the violence shows "there are ethnic gangs 
installed on our territory and who now feel that even the Gare du Nord is 
theirs."

    The check "got out of hand and transformed into urban guerrilla warfare, 
into unacceptable, intolerable violence," new Interior Minister Francois 
Baroin told Europe 1 radio. "Nothing can justify what happened."

    Thirteen people were taken into custody, including five minors, police 
said. They were in custody on suspicion of violence against state agents, 
vandalism and theft.

    The incident gave added urgency to addressing the problems of France's 
disenfranchised minority youths _ already a central issue of the campaign 
leading up to the April 22-May 6 two-round presidential vote.

    Some of the youths rampaging at Gare du Nord shouted slogans against 
Sarkozy, who is seen by many youths in poor neighborhoods as the symbol of 
French police repression. He has alienated many with his tough policing and 
talk _ as minister he once called delinquents "scum."
Sarkozy said the violence showed that French children need lessons in civic 
responsibility in school.

    "When individuals come to the rescue of someone who is committing fraud, 
that is particularly unacceptable, and I hope that the justice system will 
firmly sanction people who behave like that," he told reporters.

    Sarkozy has won praise from some observers for handling the 2005 riots 
with no major bloodshed. But his leftist opponents say he has exacerbated 
the suburbs' problems, and that his government deepened divisions in French 
society.

    "Police are afraid to go in certain neighborhoods, or to carry out 
certain security checks," Royal told Canal Plus television. "Sometimes 
people are afraid simply when they see police."

------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/03/27/ap3557605.html

Associated Press
Clashes Erupt at Paris Train Station
By JAMEY KEATEN 03.27.07, 9:20 PM ET
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Riot police firing tear gas and brandishing batons clashed Tuesday with 
bands of youths who shattered windows and looted shops at a major Paris 
train station, officials said. Nine people were arrested.
Officials said about 100 people were involved in the melee at Gare du Nord, 
one of Paris' most important transport hubs. Officers, some with police 
dogs, fired tear gas and charged at groups of marauding youths, some of them 
wearing hoods and swinging metal bars.
The youths responded by throwing trash cans and other objects at the 
officers. A group of youths smashed the windows of a sporting goods store 
and looted boxes of shoes. Others attacked automatic drink dispensers and 
set fire to an information booth.
Commuter Cyril Zidou, a 24-year-old electrician, said he was coming home 
from the gym "when I just got gassed." One woman was evacuated by paramedics 
for inhalation of tear gas.
The violence did not appear directly related to France's presidential 
election less than a month away, but it highlighted the social and economic 
tensions that the country's new leader will inherit when he or she takes 
power in May.
The train lines from Gare du Nord radiate out to the same suburbs north of 
Paris where three weeks of rioting erupted in 2005. That violence was born 
of pent-up anger - especially among youths of Arab and African origin - over 
years of high unemployment and racial inequalities.
The melee spilled onto the surrounding streets late Tuesday as officers 
cleared the station. Police ordered spectators to disperse and threatened to 
charge as small groups of youths set fire to wooden barricades and garbage 
cans and pelted passing tourist buses with sticks.
Zidou said the violence had echoes of the riots in 2005. "They never 
finished," he said. "It slowed down a bit, but it was never over."
Another commuter, Guy Elkoun, said: "There's always a feeling of insecurity 
in this train station ... I knew this could happen someday."
Officials from Paris' RATP public transport authority said the violence 
started after a man without a Metro ticket punched two inspectors during a 
routine ticket check. Youths also attacked the inspectors and later turned 
on police patrolling the station, officials said.
"The inspectors were hit with projectiles, as were the officers who came to 
assist them," said Luc Poignant, an official for the Force Ouvriere police 
union.
But youths at the station said Tuesday's clashes started when police 
manhandled a young person of North African origin. Some claimed that the 
youth's arm was broken in the confrontation.
The clashes forced subway and commuter lines to skip their stops at the 
station for several hours. Its long-distance rail hub and terminal for 
Eurostar trains that go to Britain were unaffected.
Shopkeeper Mohamed Mamouni said he was bedding down overnight in his cell 
phone store to guard it. He said he chased away youths who smashed a hole in 
his window.
"I arrived just in time," he said.
(UPDATES with chaos in streets, shopkeeper comment; corrects that trains 
skipped station, sted entire lines closed.)
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not 
be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
---------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/29/wfra29.xml

Battle of Gare du Nord rocks Paris

By Henry Samuel in Paris
Last Updated: 2:54am BST 30/03/2007

French elections coverage in full
France's presidential candidates have been exchanging fire over why the 
simple arrest of a fare-dodger turned into a full scale riot, with the Left 
claiming that Nicolas Sarkozy's repressive policies have brought anti-police 
sentiment to an all-time high.
Police used tear-gas and batons charges on Tuesday night to quell scores of 
rioters at the Gare du Nord - the Eurostar terminus in Paris used by 
hundreds of thousands of Britons each year.

French officers with dogs patrol the Gare du Nord Metro


Thirteen people were arrested during several hours of clashes, which began 
during the evening rush hour and did not end until midnight.
Commuters and tourists were caught in the crossfire as groups of youths, 
some hooded, threw projectiles at police, smashed windows and drink 
distributors with iron bars and ransacked shops.
Mr Sarkozy, presidential candidate for the right-wing UMP party who stepped 
down as interior minister on Monday, defended the police's handling of the 
incident.
"We are the only country where it is considered abnormal to arrest someone 
who doesn't pay for his ticket," he said. "If the police force is not there 
to ensure a minimum of order, what exactly is its role?"
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Ségolène Royal, the Socialist candidate, said the riot was a legacy of Mr 
Sarkozy's time at the interior ministry - including the November 2005 
riots - which had worsened animosity between police and young people from 
ethnic minorities.
"Naturally passengers should pay for their ticket. But for a simple 
stop-check to degenerate into such violent confrontation proves that 
something is not right any more," she said.
"Five years of a Right-wing government which made security its campaign 
theme, and we see that it has failed right along the line."
In particular, she attacked Mr Sarkozy's decision to dismantle a "police de 
proximité", a neighbourhood police force he had criticised as promoting 
social work rather than crime prevention.
Miss Royal and Mr Sarkozy are the frontrunners in the presidential election 
to take place on April 22 and May 6.
Although Mr Sarkozy, 52, is the favourite to win, he is regarded as the 
enemy by many young people in the high-immigration city suburbs since he 
called delinquents "rabble" and promised to clean out criminal gangs with a 
"power hose".
The man who pledged to restore law and order to all corners of France has 
several times cancelled campaign trips to the suburbs, or "banlieues", for 
fear of sparking unrest. Observers say the troubled districts remain as 
explosive as in 2005.
"Five years in the interior ministry and he can no longer enter parts of the 
French suburbs," the centrist UDF candidate François Bayrou said last week. 
In Tuesday evening's incidents, many of the young rioters chanted obscene 
anti-Sarkozy slogans.
The trouble started when metro officials stopped a 33-year-old man who had 
jumped over a turnstile to avoid paying. They said the police were called 
when the man butted an inspector. However, several witnesses said his arrest 
was carried out with unnecessary force.
Crowds of youths then gathered in the underground section of the station, 
amid a false rumour that police had injured a young teenager. The rioters 
had no known link to the arrested man, who according to interior ministry 
was a Congolese illegal immigrant with a long police record.
The police union, Alliance, said that hostility to the police was increasing 
in France.
"There is an instinct to challenge everything in uniform," said its 
spokesman, Dominique Achispon.
Last week, the union revealed that officers were under orders to perform 
fewer identity checks to avoid raising tensions ahead of the elections.