In a small picturesque French town called Quissac, a group of insurgents recently launched a bombardment on the local gendarmes’ barracks, denting its metal shutters with powerful fireworks and setting fire to a cypress tree. As the rioting spreads to small French towns, there appears to be no end to the destruction.
While the Quissac incidents may seem minor compared to the widespread destruction, arson, looting, and rioting that has engulfed numerous communities across France in the past six nights. It was nonetheless an unprecedented occurrence for a town with a population of 3,300 in the Gard region of southern France.
The unsettling experience is taking place in hundreds of similar towns and villages across France. And the latest wave of rioting in France is different from previous cycles of violence known as “les violences urbaines” or urban violence.
This time, the unrest spread beyond the traditional blue-collar towns and disadvantaged housing projects, reaching even the more remote locations that had previously been spared from the nationwide riots of 2005.
