Paris Olympics: Locals ‘at war with police’ as armed officers swarm city
EXCLUSIVE: Tensions between officers and locals in a former ‘no-go area' of Paris are at boiling point as the Olympics begins.
Angry Paris locals have told the Express they “hate” the police and are “at war” with them, as thousands of officers descend on the city for the Olympic Games which officially begin tonight.
Tensions between young men in the suburbs of the capital city have been running high since the teenager Nahel Merzouk was killed by officers last summer.
That prompted days and nights of rioting. More than 700 police officers were injured in the chaos that saw close to 1,000 buildings burned in rampant scenes of criminal damage and looting.
But young men in the Seine-Saint-Denis district, where the Olympic Stadium and athletes’ village are based, have told the Express they are still angry with the police.
“This neighbourhood is peaceful,” a young man called Youssef, who declined to be photographed, said. “The one bad thing is the police violence.
“They are using excessive force without justification and excessive inappropriate violence against young men.”
Youssef, who lives in the La Courneuve district of Saint-Denis, an area once so dangerous the police refused to go there, said he and his friends were sick of the “aggressive approach” they believe the police are taking.
It was not uncommon for smoke bombs to be thrown into crowds and officers to get physical, he claimed.
His friend, a tall man in a green designer t-shirt, added: “At checkpoints they start provoking us and pushing us when we immediately react, they use violence.”
They claimed, in addition to the killing of Nahel Merzouk, another youngster from their area had been slain by police having been stopped by officers asking to see his ID card.
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“He was killed without any reason or alert,” said another resident who blamed the police for this death.
Asked by the Express what their feelings were towards the police, the young men of La Courneuve said they “hated” them.
“It is their violence which is making us hate them,” Youssef added.
Saint-Denis has a massive police presence on its streets as officers from all over the country, and even abroad, have been drafted in to ensure the Olympics pass without incident.
But the large-scale show of force and disruption to locals' lives has antagonised the young men who feel as if the police violence has increased recently.
“They are arresting men, women and children,” a man in a beige Gucci tracksuit top on an electric scooter chipped in. “It is like a war.”
The police in Saint-Denis did not respond to requests from the Express for a comment.
