Those Frisky "French Youth" Are At It Again

It's hard to refine the information from the slag, but if you suspected that Muslim immigrants were involved, you were right.

In Amiens, there had been some signs of violence on Sunday night, but it really took off about 11pm on Monday as a group of about 100 young men reportedly started burning trash cans and cars and throwing up barriers across the streets. As about 150 police arrived on the scene, according to local reporters, street battles erupted that lasted for about three hours. A nursery school and some other buildings were burned while tear gas canisters flew and a police helicopter overhead called for reinforcements. 

When Interior Minister Manuel Valls visited the scene this afternoon, a 25-year-old from the neighborhood named Youssef reportedly tried to confront him amid some pushing and shoving. Youssef demanded that Valls "answer his questions," said the report, but Valls slipped out of the crowd and into the town hall. 

It's easy to imagine what those questions might have been: How can I get a job? How can I get a future? Will the children and grandchildren of immigrants who are black and brown and in many cases Muslim ever really be accepted in France? What's harder to imagine is that Valls, or any other government official, really has the answer.