Paris in Hell: Two people died and more than 550 people were arrested in France after PSG acquired stock images of a burning car. Credit: Florian Olivo, Unsplash
It was supposed to be a glorious night. A nearly male perennial French perennial in Europe, PSG finally did it. He removed Inter Milan 5-0, lifting the first ever Champions League trophy. Historic? absolutely. A sense of euphoria? A few hours, yes. But if you walked the streets of Paris that night, or worse, if you got caught up in the middle of them, you totally saw something else.
Two deaths. Over 550 Arrest. A wounded country.
Let’s call what it was: burning, not celebration.
What we witnessed on May 31st wasn’t just Joy’s spontaneous explosion. It was a controlled explosion of violence, wrapped in red and blue smoke in a PSG shirt.
Désiré Doué danced past interdefenders like they weren’t there (as they weren’t for the most part), and on his way back to Paris, the teenagers were setting up a bottle to light up cars and scooters at Riot Police and lobbing the bottles. The old coat of arms of French pride, Champion Elises has become a battlefield. No, this was not a Marseille fan who made comments about Macron’s betrayal. This turned on Paris itself.
Don’t pretend this is about soccer.
Soccer was a spark. But fire? It’s coming from somewhere completely.
France is burning beneath the surface. Ask the child who was stabbed to death by a dachshund. Ask the 23-year-old who was crushed in a car while trying to celebrate on a scooter. Ask 192 people (polis, firefighters, fans) who have finished the night in the hospital.
Concerns are rising across Paris and France
There is growing awareness of France, particularly among many native Parisians and foreigners, that it addresses serious issues of integration, public conduct and respect for shared civic norms, particularly in some urban areas. These are real issues worthy of open and honest discussion without censorship and without brushing off any unpleasant reality under the rug.
Current state of Paris
And if the government doesn’t say it loudly, the streets already have. There is a people crisis in France, and it is visibly exploded.
What should have been a night of national pride became a mirror that endured the state of the Republic. My own Reflection. Pyrotechnics and PR cannot cover citizen breakdowns. The fireworks have faded, but the smoke still remains.
France stops treating these violent flare-ups as isolated incidents and begins to face deeper corruption in lawlessness, cultural cuts and urban policy. The next “celebration” may seem more like a riot rehearsal than a victory parade.
This is because Paris was not the only one celebrating the victory.. that Has Paris sent a warning?
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