Northern French Town Faced with Rioting
French police stand guard near a car destroyed in overnight clashes where gangs of youths set cars, bins and a school ablaze in Amiens August 14, 2012. About 100 youths burned cars, a leisure centre and a nursery school according to an official from the prefect’s office. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol (FRANCE – Tags: CRIME LAW)
In France on Wednesday, an immigrants’ community in the town of Amiens is tense after two straight days of clashes between youth and police.
Young people burned down a school, a gym, and several cars.
Seventeen police officers were injured.
Those disturbances occurred after a police check interrupted the memorial service of a young man who’d died in a motorcycle accident.
French journalist and political commentator Christine Ockrent tells anchor Marco Werman that Amiens is a pressure cooker for disenfranchised youth without jobs — or opportunities.
She says president Francois Hollande, who has been in office just over 100 days, is faced with a difficult crisis.