Below, the infamous 'Mantes-la-Jolie' video.
So they let someone (who?) record that scene, which was then relayed and widely published by the MSM, triggering reactions of indignation all around. Only a twisted mind or a conspiracy nutjob would see this as a way to galvanize the banlieues and incite even more violence on the part of the 'masses' (especially the youth, who are easily manipulated).
The video of the collective arrest of dozens of high school students in Mantes-la-Jolie provokes strong reactions
There are several dozen teenagers, lined up in rows, kneeling on the ground, in silence, hands behind their necks or backs, heads down, their backpacks on their shoulders, framed by police officers in uniform, standing, wearing helmets, armed with batons and shields. "This is a wise class," we can hear a man comment on one of the videos broadcast - and widely relayed - on social networks on Thursday evening, December 6.
The scene took place in Mantes-la-Jolie, Yvelines (
Note: in the "banlieues"/suburbs, where the climate is already quite deleterious) a few hours earlier, at midday: 153 young people were arrested "collectively" by the police following
violence committed on the fringes of blockades at Saint-Exupéry and Jean-Rostand high schools, two establishments located 500 metres from each other in the heart of a residential area, near the city of Val-Fourré. "These images are impressive, but no young people were injured or ill-treated, we have not recorded any complaints," says the Prefect of Yvelines, Jean-Jacques Brot. "The image is indeed shocking (...). When I saw these images myself, I was obviously shocked," admitted the Minister of Education, interviewed by France inter, on Friday morning,
while emphasizing the "context" of the event.
Tensions had been rising for several days in Mantes-la-Jolie. First in the vicinity of the two establishments, Tuesday, December 4, where
several bins were set on fire and projectiles were thrown at the police, which retaliated with tear gas grenades. "About
200 really excited young people ran into the police by throwing stones at them," says one resident. "
The prefect asked not to use tear gas, but the situation started to get out of hand," adds Thierry Laurent, the prefect's chief of staff, who visited the site. The police were unable to repel
young people who were not high school students. Then, two or three tear gas canisters were thrown and the dispersion took place. »
"Throwing stones and rocks at police officers"
The escalation of violence continued the next day. The gathering of some 300 students in front of the Jean-Rostand high school quickly turned violent with "barricade fires" followed by "stones and rocks thrown at the police officers", says the same witness. At the same time,
a small group broke into the surrounding houses to steal about ten gas bottles, which were allegedly thrown into a garbage fire. "But, fortunately, they didn't explode," comments the inhabitant, who saw the young people then heading for the Val-Fourré, "We then gave instructions not to pursue them," emphasizes the director of the prefect's cabinet. We are in a de-escalation logic. "On Wednesday, five young people were taken into custody, according to the Versailles public prosecutor, Vincent Lesclous.
On Thursday morning,
the first garbage cans were set on fire at around 9 a.m. in Saint-Exupéry before two vehicles caught fire on the ice rink parking lot, 300 metres from the establishment. "The high school students wanted to block the entrance to the school, which is located at the end of a dead end, but they quickly turned around, because the police, who were hiding around, were waiting for them," says a resident. As the day before, they then wanted to attract them to the Val-Fourré, except that the police forces were spread out on both sides of the street. As a result, they all got caught behind the Maison des associations-Agora, located opposite the Saint-Exupéry high school, where the videos were shot. »
In the evening, these images evoked a number of outraged reactions. "Appalling, unacceptable. This is not the Republic. French youth humiliated. But what does power seek but anger in return? ", asked Generation.s' leader and former socialist presidential candidate Benoît Hamon on Twitter. "Intolerable", commented Oxfam France executive director and former minister Cécile Duflot; "unacceptable images", said Ian Brossat, deputy mayor of Paris. Eric Coquerel, MP for La France insoumise de Seine-Saint-Denis, denounced "unacceptable and humiliating violence". "The images are shocking," said Laurent Saint-Martin, vice-president of the National Assembly's Finance Committee, La République en marche. "You can be outraged when you[see them]. »
"I don't know of any other methods"
Interviewed on Friday by Franceinfo, the president of the Ile-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse (Les Républicains), defended members of the police force: "The obsession of the police is not to hurt any high school student", she said, criticizing the "complacency of a certain number of political leaders with all those who today use violence".
"How do 70 police officers keep 150 young people calm? They had to find ways to keep them quiet. I don't know any other methods," says Thierry Laurent. "We asked the police to intervene calmly in the face of this mix of high school and urban violence," said Prefect Brot. And we decided with the public prosecutor that we had to make arrests. »
The day's results: 190 people were held in police custody throughout the Yvelines department, including 153 in Mantes-la-Jolie. But not all of them live there. Some would live in Les Mureaux, Bonnières-sur-Seine or Freneuse. The youngest is 12 years old; the oldest is 20 years old.
"There would be quite a few of our students among those arrested as well as students from Rostand and Condorcet high schools[in Limay]," reports a teacher from Saint-Exupéry high school, who has been present for several days before 8 a.m. on the outskirts of the school to "calm things down" and "make himself available to talk with the students".
"On Thursday, we had a situation as complicated as it was unprecedented," he adds. As there were practically no students - the school had been advising them to stay at home for several days - we had gathered with colleagues for a general meeting in the teachers' room before being confined. »
Most of the 79 young people who have been released are minors under 16 years of age. "And, for the most part, there was nothing more to blame them for than participating in an armed group," said the public prosecutor of Versailles. One hundred and ten police custody was extended and seventeen young people were to be released on Friday morning, including sixteen minors, mainly for acts of violence (throwing stones at police officers, burning cars, etc.) and acts of rebellion and contempt. For the others, investigations are still ongoing.
"Some had bottles of gasoline," said Prosecutor Lesclous.
The images of these collective arrests are certainly striking, and it is true that, from memory, we have never seen this in the Yvelines, but, faced with the violence of recent days, we had to opt for a policing solution. »
@earthconnexion 
I don't see the need to plant a rebellious movement for that. It seems unrelated to me.
):