In France, even hoodlums go on vacation

Royan is a lovely town on the French Atlantic coast. It’s been a summer
seaside resort for more than a century. It’s busy, but quiet and
peaceful, the sort of place where there are lots of grandmothers in
residence.

To hear Royan residents and visitors, the place has been overrun by rabble, the no-good hoodlums that preoccupy president Sarkozy.

Towards the end of July, about a dozen youths from Epinay-sous-Sénart, a housing project south of Paris, appeared in Royan. According to Le Parisien, the visitors were “arrogant” and “provocative” from the start. They squatted an abandoned building and reportedly dealt drugs.

As time went on, the situation apparently worsened. Royan businesses complained of harassment and louche behavior, reportedly including shoplifting.

The situation hit bottom in the night of August 5, when youths were denied admission to a Royan nightclub. A scuffle ensued with a bouncer, then the youths demanded reparations for a broken pair of sunglasses (the need for which is debatable in the middle of the night).

Earlier this week, a vigilante mob of merchants tried to run the youths out of town. The youths took refuge in a vacant building and were finally removed by the police, who escorted them to Saintes and put them on the first train bound for Paris.

A few youths stayed behind, because they had court dates. Two youths were convicted of assaulting a merchant; one was sentenced to community service, the other to two months in jail. And the youth who scuffled with the nightclub bouncer has been convicted of attempted extortion (for the allegedly broken sunglasses) and sentenced to four months in jail.