PARIS (Reuters) - Hundreds of people were arrested in France overnight in clashes between police and protesters angry over conservative Nicolas Sarkozy’s victory in Sunday’s presidential election, police said.I saw some video last night of a police line, decked out with riot gear and plexiglas shields, just standing there as idiot protesters threw paving stones at them from no more than 15 feet away. Others decided to drop their drawers and wave their ugly butts at the cops, who again, were only 15 or so feet away. The cops just covered up and tried to keep from getting hurt, but there was no sign that they were interested in fighting back or going after the worst of the thugs.
Official figures released on Monday said demonstrators set fire to 730 cars and injured 78 policemen across France, with 592 people arrested in the violent protests against the tough-talking former interior minister.
The tally was revised sharply upwards after an initial report appeared to downplay the clashes and was at odds with local police figures and eyewitness reports, which suggested widespread troubles in numerous French cities.
I've been critical of the LAPD response to the May Day protests in which the cops clearly got out of hand and ended up roughing up some peaceful protesters, members of the press, and even innocent bystanders. The cops that day fired 240 rubber "baton" rounds at the fleeing crowd, often causing bloody welts. Too bad the French cops didn't have a few of those non-lethal weapons during last night's riots. A well placed rubber round would have made eunuchs out of those fanny-waggers. That's what I would call great TV.
By the way, on a normal night in France an average of 100 cars get torched....just for the heck of it.
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