The young men gather in the city square as if it is just another Sunday afternoon in the French capital, but they wear the uniform of the rioters who ransacked the streets the previous night.
asserted
who → gather → streets
Most wear black hoodies, black sports pants, and black balaclavas.
asserted
Most → wear → hoodies
A few have ski masks over their foreheads, just in case they need to cover their eyes.
asserted
they → have → eyes
We are in the Place de la Republique on the day after the worst French riots in recent memory, when mobs stormed through the streets to loot shops, torch cars and smash windows.
asserted
mobs → storm → windows
And the unrest is not over because the protesters are back to assert their control of this historic square.
asserted
protesters → assert → square
A burnt car sits at the side of the square, not far from a burnt truck.
asserted
car → burn → truck
A classic French kiosk, the sort of place you buy a chocolate and a newspaper, is now a blackened ruin.
asserted
you → buy → chocolate
I have just walked past a smashed florist, a wrecked shoe store and a bottle shop that has been stripped bare and now reeks of the wine spilt from broken bottles.
asserted
that → walk → bottles
But I also see a group of volunteers cleaning up the rubbish around the towering monument in the middle of the square, a statue that symbolises the French Republic.
asserted
that → see → Republic
One woman, Alice Boucheron, tells me she thinks many of the protesters were motivated by real problems, like the cost of living, but too many were intent on destruction.
asserted
many → tell → destruction
And she is angry at what they have done.
asserted
they → do → what
“I’m really proud to be a French citizen,” she says.
asserted
she → ’m → ?
“So I want to clean up everything.
asserted
I → want → everything
I think that’s very important because when we clean up like this, it’s a demonstration too.”
asserted
it → think → this
Boucheron, 33, has come in from her home just outside Paris to be here.
asserted
Boucheron → come → Paris
She worries that politicians and the media will misrepresent the images from the protests.
asserted
politicians → worry → protests
“We are projecting a very poor image to the world, when in reality the French people simply wanted to share their grievances,” she says.
“The real problem lies with those who engage in destruction, arson and looting.”
asserted
who → project → destruction
Samuel Lugassy, a chiropractor who lives nearby, feels the previous night was like a “civil war” in parts of France.
asserted
night → live → France
He is shocked and angry at what took place.
asserted
what → shock → place
Another pedestrian, Raphael Christophe, is about to leave for his home in Limoges, the town in the south where vandals burned the historic town hall.
asserted
vandals → leave → hall
He is watching the young men in balaclavas, worried about more violence.
asserted
He → watch → violence
“Look – they are ready,” he says.
asserted
he → look → ?
“They have their masks.”
asserted
They → have → masks
The group is expanding.
asserted
group → expand → ?
It has outnumbered the volunteers trying to clean up the square, and it has drawn supporters displaying Palestinian and Algerian flags.
asserted
it → outnumber → flags
Some of the group climb up the statue, as if asserting ownership of all they see.
asserted
they → climb → all
The statue is smothered with graffiti criticising Israel, the police, President Emmanuel Macron and the right-wing National Rally led by Marine Le Pen.
asserted
statue → smother → Pen
The police arrive to disperse the crowd shortly after 2.30pm.
asserted
police → arrive → 2.30pm
Officers with riot shields and batons advance through the square to try to force the protesters out, but it is not easy because this precinct is so busy with people who seem oblivious to the tensions.
asserted
who → advance → tensions
Pedestrians emerge from the Republique metro station.
asserted
Pedestrians → emerge → station
A jogger runs through the crowd.
asserted
jogger → run → crowd
A group of tourists passes by on hire bikes.
asserted
group → pass → bikes
The crowd chants at the police, showing that the protest movement has the numbers in this square.
asserted
movement → chant → square
Suddenly, the temperature rises when the police encircle a group of protesters and lead them away.
asserted
police → rise → them
A few people in the crowd start throwing things at the authorities, and they get canisters of tear gas in response.
asserted
they → start → response
Most people start running as soon as the acrid smoke rises, knowing it will sting their eyes and burn their throats.
asserted
it → start → throats
While the protests began as rallies about school standards, the clashes in the Place de la Republique are mostly a test of strength between agitators and police.
asserted
clashes → begin → agitators
The leaders of the crowd set fire to bikes on a street, and are then dispersed by police.
asserted
leaders → set → police
They put up barricades across the main boulevard to disrupt the traffic, and are dispersed with another volley of tear gas.
asserted
They → put → gas
Every action is dominated by men in their late teens and early 20s, almost all wearing their black uniforms.
asserted
all → dominate → uniforms
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
