I got told yesterday about a friend of friend who got attacked on the RER this week. I don't know details, but there was a definitely a link to the riots, and the phrase "tear-gas" was involved.

This comes after quite a big story, that on Saturday a protestor was injured and is currently in a coma. The circumstances behind that are still under investigation, but there is sizeable evidence that he was injured during a charge by the CRS (French riot police) - failing that there's even more evidence that they took a long time to call an ambulance for him.

 

Back in the '68 protests, one of the most famous chants was "CRS = SS". Without knowledge, you generally think it's a childish chant. But, even ignoring those specific cases (I wasn't there, I don't know, so we should ignore them), it's clear there's a large amount of basis behind these claims.

Watching TV pictures, the CRS and gendarmes mobiles (Riot branch of the Gendarmerie) love their charges. And I'm forever hearing news reports about tear gas being used - they were even used at campus when students were apparantly trying to force entry to a building, sadly also resulting in the gassing of a student representive of the University Council trying to gain access legitimately for the meeting.

I'm not saying that the reaction isn't unprovoked. There are violent factions - a small number of the movement against the CPE and some people who are coming in just for the purpose of rioting. But, you have to wonder if the response is proportional. It really seems excessive, and I'm sure that the protestors take violent action to protect themselves, leading to the riots.

 

Thankfully, steps are now being made to calm things down, and union leaders have eventually agreed to talk to PM Dominique de Villepin, although they won't be "negociating" until the law is removed. And Tuesday's National day of protests is now gaining momentum and is now at the stage is could be called a National Strike. Hopefully we'll see an end to the violence soon.