"Badiou's l'Organisation politique on the French Situation"

From infinite thought

On Riots that come after Pain…

I. The 27th of October in Clichy-sous-Bois, three adolescents chased by policemen hid in an electric transformer. Two of them, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré died from electrocution. The third, Muttin Altun, was severely burned. The Minister of the Interior and the Prime Minister immediately declared that these youths were wanted following a burglary and then, later, of a theft from a construction site. They denied any chase by the police. But these are patent lies. Not only was there neither burglary nor theft, not only did the policeman chase a whole group of adolescents, who were coming back after a football game, and saw them go into the transformer, but they did not warn the EDF [French electricity company] who could have cut off the current and prevented the terrible accident. That day the daily harassment of the youth of the estates by the police ended in crime. The crime of the police covered by the lies of the highest authorities of the state.

Ever since the night of the 27th of October, confrontations have taken place in Clichy between dozens of youths and the police. Cars have been burned, a school, stores and bus shelters have been attacked. The following night, these confrontations spread to Montfermeil. Some days later, the CRS [Compagnie Republicane de Securite – riot police] threw a tear gas grenade at the entrance of a mosque in Clichy. Once again the government denies that the police are responsible. During the night of the 31st of October the riots spread to the whole of Seine-sans-Denis and to other estates throughout France. more