Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

January 5, 2006 By Fausta

In a French train,
a scene worthy of a Charles Bronson movie:

Last evening’s France2 newscast spent the first six minutes of the broadcast discussing an incident that occurred on New Year’s day on a train from Nice to Lyon. The incident was mentioned in a short paragraph in thisBBC News article that I linked to on last Tuesday,

However, New Year’s day saw between 20 and 40 teenagers, many of Arab or north African origin, go on the rampage on a train between Nice and Lyon, intimidating and robbing passengers, and allegedly sexually assaulting at least one young woman.

¡No Pasarán! has more, especially by commenter Malaventura

I did not write a report as if I was on the train, I quoted the report of France 2 in French and sent that quote to Eric Svane, together with some comments of mine. What I additionally reported was that I have been on the station of Les Arcs two and a half hours (as I now know more precisely) after that “train de fete” had left again. The French said that there was a “massive police deployment”. Have you ever been to the site of such a massive deployment two hours+ after it took place? Right. It’s easy to spot. They say that they had used three divisions there. That’s about 360 troops. You don’t bring 360 officers into one tiny train station, let them fight, and 150 minutes later, nobody realizes anything anymore, except if you really really want that.

The train stood still in Les Arcs for 1 1/2 hours BEFORE the police arrived. – Before? Not quite. The police was at the station even prior to the train. They had been talking to the guard via cellphone, that heroic guard who had made usage of his “droit de retrait” because he felt that the safety of the passengers (and not the passengers of one waggon only) could not be guaranteed any longer, and they all agreed to stop the train in Les Arcs.

Why in Les Arcs? Easy: Because there’s the only post of the Gendarmerie Nationale after Nice, a slow two minutes walk from the station, even if you’re half drunk on January 1st early in the morning. And if you know the Gendarmes, you also know that they are bristled with weapons and tough to the bone, well, as far as French officers have bones. They are not police. They are Feds. But the officers, three of them, stayed inside the station’s building. The reason? The railway agency SNCF had not yet officially made a report. That’s what they say. Officially. So for 1 1/2 hours, the Arabs in the train rioted – and not, as Bof speculated, in one waggon, but throughout the whole damn train – while the passengers locked themselves in into the compartments (question aside: why did they not open the security windows, which is easy to do, and run away? because they were so totally paralyzed by the senseless hope that help would come from nowhere but the outside) and stared at the station building, waiting for help, while the officers, i.e. the government, sat in that buiding and waited for official papers.

More at his blog (in German) where he points out that two of the three detainees are illegal aliens from Morocco.

The NYT has more details:

The episode was on a day that the state rail system offered a special low fare. The youths came from the Marseille area and had traveled to Nice and other seaside resorts for New Year’s Eve. As they returned early on Jan. 1, heading toward Lyon, the reveling turned into something more raucous.
Inside the train, which was carrying 600 people, they broke windows, snatched mobile telephones, slashed seats and sexually assaulted a young woman, the police said. Train personnel called for help and stopped service, but the police delayed boarding the train for more than an hour to wait for reinforcements.
“It was a real scene of pillage,” the regional state prosecutor, Dominique Luiggi, said.
When the train resumed service, with the police on board, the youths pulled an emergency stop to escape by running along the tracks. Ultimately three people were arrested for robbery with one facing additional charges of sexual assault.

Could it happen here? Yes. If it did, would it happen differently? Probably. I do not know of any incidents in this country where a train with 600 people has been terrorized by 20 punks, even in the days of subway mayhem and the Bernard Goetz trial.

Which reminds me, back in the days when I commuted into NY city, I knew of at least two passengers who legally carried firearms to work.

Would an incident such last for hours here without the police intervening? Very unlikely.

Update Via Michelle Malkin, The French Train Rampage You Haven’t Heard About.
Night Train to Moonbattery.
30 Youths Of Indeterminate Ethnic Extraction Terrorize & Rape On French Train
Update 2 More at The Washington Times, and LGF
Update, December 6 “The problem is that law-enforcement services didn’t know that there was a promotional fare going.” Via Camp Katrina,
Night Train to Marseille, and Blame the Train Company

(technorati tags France)

Share

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Tweets by @Fausta
retirees_raise-2015_300x250

Pages

  • About
  • Email

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Previous Posts

  • Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • You need to unfriend me
  • Go ahead and Kiss the Girl, if you dare
  • Ashamed

Recent Comments

  • John on Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! – PoliticalWitchDoctor.com on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! - AmericanTruthToday on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Did Venezuela’s Minister of Defense Back Out At The Last Minute? on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Roseanne Not Back, Khan not Invited, Operaman’s back, Jobs back, Fausta’s back (but not here yet) Thoughts under the fedora – Da Tech Guy Blog on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

Archives

  • 2019
    • December 2019
    • May 2019
    • January 2019
  • 2018
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
  • 2009
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
  • 2008
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • 2007
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
  • 2006
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
  • 2005
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
  • 2004
    • December 2004
    • November 2004
    • October 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • July 2004
    • June 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • March 2004
Content Copyright Fausta's Blog

Site Developed and Managed by 300m.com