Sore Losers--Racists Always Are

First of all, this was an awesome game!! See the excitement at UEFA Cup web site. Okay, now why is this football game news since Americans don't even know what "football" really is?

On the surface, this is being widely reported as "violence broke out at a football match, and the local police shot the rioting fans." Uhh, no, not quite.

As found on the lesser-known (lesser but more factual than AP News) Expatica site, there's a bit more going on. Let's take a closer look.

PARIS - A plainclothes police officer shot and killed a fan of Paris Saint-Germain late Thursday night and wounded another in disorder around the team's stadium after it lost to Hapoel Tel Aviv in the UEFA Cup, according to the police.

Early indications suggested that the officer had gone to the rescue of a French supporter of the Israeli team who was attacked by PSG fans outside the stadium. A group of up to 150 fans then turned on the officer.

At first he let off a tear gas canister to try to disperse the mob, then fired his gun, killing one man immediately and seriously wounding another.

Okay, we have the "rioting fans" part and yes, after trying tear gas, the cop did, indeed, shoot into the crowd and kill one man. But wait! There's more!

The violence came after PSG was upset by the Tel Aviv team's win (4-2). Hapoel climbed to second in Group G as Salim Toema scored twice within the first four minutes and Elyaniv Barda scored the winner in the 57th minute.

That's right, the violence was initiated because the PSG fans were "incensed" that the "dirty Jews" (Hapoel-Tel Aviv) would "dare" to win the game. And so their answer? First riot and then...

"They were shouting 'filthy Jew' and when they saw our colleague, who comes from the Caribbean, they also yelled, 'filthy black, we're going to get you," said a police union official, Luc Poignant.

Isn't that interesting? But wait! It didn't stop with yelling racial slurs at a law enforcement officer doing his job. Oh no. It got worse.

The [policeman and Hapoel fan] sought to take refuge in a McDonald's restaurant "to avoid being lynched." Outside the restaurant, "there is a movement of the crowd as if the 'fugitive' has been caught by his attackers ... Several people shout, 'He's got a gun,' and then suddenly a shot rings out," Broussard wrote.

When they realised the man was a police officer, several in the crowd began chanting, "Dirty nigger" and "France for the French," according to Broussard's account.

"One thing is sure: several dozen people were rushing towards him and wanted to attack him because of the colour of his skin," Broussard wrote.

Police reinforcements arrived after several minutes, by which time all the windows of the McDonald's had been smashed.

So not only were they flinging verbal slurs of a racist and violent nature, they were flinging fists and objects to smash all the windows.

But here's the worst irony of it all: the police officer is in custody. Yeah, the cop, doing his job--and having his life threatened for it, as well as being subjected to racial slurs on his personage--is being held in custody. Unbelieveable.

Only in France. Oh, but Chirac says he's "appalled." Okay. If you say so--because you never lie just to do spin control, do you Mr. Chirac? Of course not!