French police nab 100 for ‘purge’ night riots
Social media message sparks movie-inspired masked youth violence in Lyon and Paris
Paris French police arrested more than 100 people after gangs of masked youths stormed through Paris suburbs and the centre of Lyon on Halloween night, authorities said on Thursday, following a message on social media calling for a “purge” against police. Police fired teargas overnight at hundreds of youths who barged through the city centre of Lyon, shattering shop windows and setting rubbish bins on fire. In the deprived Seine-Saint-Denis area, north of Paris, a sportswear store was looted and young people robbing a grocery store attacked police with acid, according to Denis Jacob of police union Alternative Police. Authorities said the riots were stoked by messages circulated on social media, apparently inspired by the Hollywood horror film franchise The Purge, which depicts a violent dystopia in which all crimes are made legal for a day. “Halloween must remain a celebration, the purge is not a joke, the purge is a threat,” interior minister Christophe Castaner told reporters on ...
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