Man dies in French riots

The riots in France continue, though they don’t open the news.

While the violence has abated, sporadic arson attacks continue, as they did before the rioting. Police say dozens of cars are torched each night on average in France's depressed suburbs where frustrations over unemployment and discrimination often run high, especially among youths from immigrant families.

That is, there is no reason to worry. It is simply a fact in life in France that your car might be torched. It just “happens”.

A high school guard suffered a heart attack and died Monday while trying to extinguish cars set aflame by vandals in the latest unrest in troubled French suburbs, police said.

AP is really outdoing itself here. Should somebody not ‘in the know’ read this, they could not guess that Muslims are involved in the violence. Muslims are only mentioned as victims.

Several mosques have been attacked or vandalized - in what Muslim leaders fear is a possible anti-immigrant backlash from the rioting.

Thus, we can only assume the anti-immigrant backlash is attacking mosques since the immigrants involved are Muslims.

And, in the last paragraph, AP lumps together attackers and victims. In fact, reading the last paragraph somebody might get the impression that these vandals simply have something against places of worship.

During the urban unrest, the worst in four decades in France, rioters torched more than 9,000 vehicles and several hundred buildings and repeatedly clashed with police. Several mosques, churches and a synagogue were also targeted.

No comments: