Riots In Paris Suburb After Youth Killed By Police

by Annina Bergman | August 11, 2009 at 12:40 pm

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About 40 rioters threw molotov coctails at police and torched cars in Paris suburb Bagnolet after the death of a young pizza deliverer.

Witnesses say the young delivery driver was fleeing police on a motorcycle after refusing to show them required documents, and that police cars made contact with the driver, who crashed into a metal barrier and died. Deputy prosecutor Philibert Demory refutes these claims, and states that there is no evidence of the two vehicles making contact.

French police has reinforced their presence in Bagnolet in order to calm down the riots. 40 police vans are surrounding the housing project where the rioting broke out. One person has been detained.

Tensions between young people and police have long simmered in housing projects in France's suburbs, feeding on poverty, unemployment and anger over discrimination against minorities.

The suburbs erupted in 2005 in riots, largely by young Arab and black men of immigrant backgrounds, after two teens were electrocuted in a power substation while hiding from police. The riots spread nationwide.