Jacques Chirac, the Pied Piper of France, leads the way as “les jeunes hommes” of Western Europe follow his country’s tune, “Les émeutes de Paris”. There are Internet rumors of radical weblogs calling for a massive riot in Brussels on November 12th, 2005.
Sunday, 6 November 2005 ~ Belgium was the first sovereign state to follow the Paris riots with the torching of five cars in Saint-Gilles, Brussels. The police considered it an isolated case, however the next day another five cars were torched in the same area as other vehicles were overturned. Molotov cocktails were tossed at police. Even in rural communities there were car burnings and flame-throwing. On November 8, there were fifteen more acts of car burnings, Molotov-throwing and arson, including the areas of Antwerp, Charleroi, Genk, Ghent and La Louvière. Finally, on November 9th, the police became convinced by evidence that the acts of vandalism were French-inspired. That evening, more than 30 new cases of torched cars and fires were reported. On November 10th, nine people were arrested.
Monday, 7 November 2005 - Germany, a former enemy of France, now is a blind follower, as at least ten vehicles in Berlin, Cologne and Bremen were were set ablaze leading Police to speculate about the “possibility” of copycat acts related to those in France.
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005 - Denmark: A substantial police force had to be deployed to restore order after store-smashings, arsons and attempted torchings recurred.
Sunday, November 6 - Spain: Trash cans and six cars were burned in the city of Seville. On Monday, November 7th, more trash cans, five cars and a motorbike were torched in the same city. Firefighters extinguishing the fires were injured by stones pelted by attackers. The government of Seville, Spain considered it to be an isolated case. Tuesday, November 8th, saw a continuation of the burnings, requiring the city council to impose an information blackout of new incidents to the press. The Spanish acts of vandalism are coordinated.
November 9th ~ Portugal: Two acts of car torching were reported in Lisbon, possibly inspired by the French riots.
November 11th ~ Copenhagen, Denmark:
Faint reverberations of recent French immigrant riots continued in the Danish city of Århus Wednesday night, as teenagers rampaged through its Rosenhøj quarter, setting dustbins on fire, smashing shop windows, and trying to set fire to one store. The district had seen several nights of disturbances last week as young people took to the streets smashing shop windows, hot dog stands, and setting fire to a pre-school and a fast food restaurant.
Although a right-wing Danish leader described them as terrorist acts, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called them ‘pranks’. Linked at ‘THE DISAPPEARING FRENCH RIOT STORY’ by Michelle Malkin and The Political Teen’s “Open Trackbacks”, Conservative Cat, Hyscience and Wizbang’s Carnival of Trackbacks.
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