The proliferation of videos depicting unrest on social networks is believed to have contributed to the copycat violence witnessed across the country.
As Mayor Cathala explains, “It’s one-upmanship, a way of showing off.”
Larger towns were not spared, as evidenced by the loss of a library in Metz and the burning of a sports complex intended for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in Macon. In Sens, a social center under construction was completely destroyed by fire.
Even towns like Colmar, known for its picturesque houses and canals, witnessed limited unrest with car fires and minor damage to a bank. Mayor Eric Straumann finds this paradoxical, given Colmar’s low unemployment rate of about 5%.
In L’Aigle, three cars were torched, fires were set, and store windows were attacked. The mayor, Van-Hoorne, reports that arrests were made, including several minors who recorded their actions on their mobile phones.
