Paris prepared for a new march organized by students and workers. Protesting against the lack of educational resources and the rising cost of living, today (Saturday), after a week of violent unrest that left shops looted and cars burned.
The new march was directed to the southeastern outskirts of the city, away from its center, at a time when the police deployed their forces heavily throughout France. Yesterday (Friday), the police imposed a new route between Port d'Italie and Port de Vincennes, instead of the planned march from Place de la Bastille to Place de la Nation.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that about 70,000 police will be deployed across the country, along with helicopters, armored vehicles, and water cannons. In central Paris, dozens of gendarmes were deployed under the Arc de Triomphe and along the main streets nearby. A large public turnout is expected again after more than half a million people took to the streets last week.
Meanwhile, major museums closed their doors today (Saturday), including the Louvre Museum, the Orsay Museum, the Picasso Museum, and the Grand Palais, where a major exhibition of the painter Cézanne is being held. In the wake of the recent unrest, Paris Police Commissioner Patrice Faure urged shop owners in the capital to hire security guards, but he later backtracked, saying that protecting business owners and their establishments was the government's responsibility. About 3,000 stores across France were damaged or looted last weekend.
Protest marches are scheduled to be held in Paris and Marseille today, but local authorities have banned other gatherings, including in Lyon, Nice and Montpellier. In Lyon, French media reported that police used tear gas this morning (Saturday).
France woke up to a severe security and political shock after the Yvelines district, in the western suburbs of the capital, Paris, witnessed an armed terrorist attack carried out with a racist motive and deliberately targeting citizens of immigrant origins. The tragic accident between the towns of Trappes and La Verrière resulted in the death of the promising French mixed martial arts (MMA) player Pingo Bossio Wangi, aged 26. His treacherous assassination sparked a widespread wave of condemnation in sports and political circles, while five other people were seriously injured, including a girl no more than 12 years old who is currently in intensive care, according to what the French authorities announced.
The name of the late young man, Pengo Bossio Wangi, made headlines as the only victim who died directly in this treacherous attack in Luis Bergo Square in Trappes. Wangi is of Congolese origins, but was born and raised in the city of Poissy, Yvelines province, and holds French citizenship. The late young man represented a model for the struggling suburban generation, as he grew up under the care of social institutions, and moved between simple living jobs to secure his daily livelihood, in parallel with focusing his passion and his life’s dream in the mixed martial arts (MMA) sport rings, in which he excelled within the amateur category.
Wangi spent three years of hard and disciplined training at the famous “Atch Academy” located in the municipality of Aubervilliers on the northern outskirts of Paris, one of the most prominent strongholds of this sport in France, from which world champions have graduated, such as the French champion Saladin Parnasse, the martial arts star, and the KSW champion, who mourned the late young star with poignant words through his official account on the “X” platform.
According to investigations by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecution (PNAT), the attack began around 10:30 a.m. on Friday. The attacker, identified as Kevin T. (Kevin T.), 39 years old, drove a gray Renault Clio car, and began shooting randomly and intensely using a Sten machine gun in the streets of Trapp, where Wangi was the first to be hit by bullets and died directly at the site of the attack. The perpetrator then continued on his way towards the neighboring town of La Ferriere, wounding five other people. Police officers were able to arrest the perpetrator in the town of Kwanyere after a short confrontation, and the weapon used and tear gas canisters were found in his possession. Adding to the seriousness of the plan, the raids that took place in the suspect’s apartment in the town of Belizir revealed that the house had been booby-trapped with three gas cylinders and an electronic timer, in addition to quantities of nails, steel balls, and live ammunition. The authorities also arrested the accused's mother pending investigation.
French President Emmanuel Macron immediately moved on Friday evening to the town of Trappes to meet with officials and the families of the victims, describing the incident as a “terrorist and racist attack” that deliberately targeted citizens because of the color of their skin and origins. Macron considered the attack a “dangerous turning point,” as it was the first time a terrorist act of this kind had been planned to kill French people based on skin color in the country’s recent history. The president's statements sparked intense political controversy and widespread criticism from both the right and the left, as his opponents accused him of "commodifying the pain of the victims" and forgetting previous bloody terrorist events motivated by hatred and racism. This tension prompted the Elysee to issue a clarification in which the president confirms that it does not aim to establish a hierarchy of suffering, but rather it is a reminder of the necessity of national unity against all forms of hatred.
