Saint-Sylvestre : Un record de 1 173 voitures brûlées en France
A few days before New Year's Eve, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez had prepared for a particularly difficult celebration. By advocating a "zero tolerance" policy and issuing strict instructions to law enforcement, the authorities hoped to contain the usual unrest. However, the figures released by the Interior Ministry reveal a stark reality: 1,173 vehicles were set on fire across the country. This number represents a significant increase compared to the previous year, breaking the record of 984 cars burned during the last New Year's Eve.
The massive deployment of security forces was insufficient to prevent urban violence or targeted attacks against public officials. In response to the minister's promises of immediate arrests, police operations led to the arrest of 505 people nationwide, 403 of whom were taken into custody. This figure is significantly higher than last year's total of 420 arrests. In the capital, the Paris prosecutor's office specified that 125 people were taken into custody, while emphasizing that the city was relatively spared from arson attacks on vehicles or street furniture.
Several provincial cities, however, were the scene of extreme tensions. In Rezé, in the Loire-Atlantique department, the police station was repeatedly targeted with fireworks mortars, while twenty-four vehicles were destroyed by fire in the department. In Strasbourg, police sources described a chaotic night with more than a hundred cars set ablaze, around thirty arrests, and more than twenty police officers slightly injured. The city of Rennes was also among the most volatile locations on New Year's Eve, where a group of about a hundred individuals targeted law enforcement, notably injuring a riot police officer with mortars and various projectiles.
Beyond the burning cars, New Year's Eve was marked by the widespread use of fireworks, diverted from their festive purpose to become tools of direct confrontation with the police. In the Yvelines department, checks led to the seizure of a veritable arsenal of pyrotechnics. In Buchelay, two 17-year-old minors were arrested while selling a stockpile of 389 fireworks. Similar seizures took place in Trappes, Guyancourt, and on the Paris metro, involving teenagers sometimes as young as 15 or 16. The human consequences of these actions are dramatic, as illustrated by the case of the 12-year-old boy in Chelles who tore off three fingers. The Ministry of the Interior reports numerous serious injuries, ranging from facial wounds to severed hands.
Finally, authorities stepped up their operations related to the misuse of party products such as nitrous oxide. In Paris, ten people were taken into custody for possession of canisters of this gas. This overall assessment of a New Year's Eve marked by high tension illustrates the ongoing difficulty for the state in containing urban violence despite meticulous preparation and a record police presence.
Source: Le Figaro
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