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Comment by NoRelToEmber | Hacker News Reader

Odd. The wanton stabbing of multiple children in a park in Annecy [1] didn't trigger any sort of us-vs-them reaction. Meanwhile this case, where the officer responsible has already been charged with homicide [2] (and the victim had before tried to speed away, only stopping when forced to by traffic, and again sped away immediately before being shot), is causing nationwide riots. What gives? Why does the stabbing of multiple children barely register, but this case is an explosion?

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65841666

[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66075798

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The park stabbing was a lone crazy person, that was clear to everyone.

The police murder was perpetrated by a member of an omnipresent institution that people in disaffected communities have negative interactions with regularly.

I‘m sure the interactions the cops regularly have are pretty negative also.

They can always get a different job instead of killing people.

Nonsense. Following your logic, there‘ll be no cops left eventually.

Also, it‘s obvious the killing was nothing but a bad reflex to an intense situation. I‘m sure the cop regretted this bad reflex the second thereafter.

„According to the public prosecutor of Nanterre, two Paris Police Prefecture motorcycle officers noticed a Mercedes-Benz A Class AMG with a Polish license plate driving at high speed in a bus lane, driven by a young-looking person at around 7:55 am. The officers activated their warning signals (audible and visual) and indicated to the driver of the car, then stationary at a red traffic light, to stop. The vehicle proceed to start moving and ran the red light. The officers followed the car and alerted their superiors via radio. The car committed multiple traffic violations, endangering a pedestrian and a cyclist. Due to traffic congestion, the vehicle was eventually forced to stop.“

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Nahel_Merzouk#Shoot...

If you think you‘d handle everything correctly in such an intense situation, while your life is also at risk due to a maniac behind a wheel, maybe you should consider becoming a cop.

It‘s always easy to feel like a better human being and badmouth people from your cozy safe space, when you‘ve never been in an intense situation like this before.

In the US, the police kill 25 white people per 10 million white people per year: https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/ (the graphic shows per 1 million, but over 10 years)

In France, the police kill 5.5 people per 10 million people per year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killings_by_law_enforcement._R...

In other words, US police kill 4.5x more white people, than French police kill anyone. But you are absolutely right (despite the cop responsible being charged with homicide) - in one case the guilt is collective, in the other, it's just lone individuals, and no patterns can or should be perceived.

As a bonus, in that killings by law enforcement wikipedia table, there are many countries higher than France. But with a few notable exceptions (the US being one), those killings seldom provoke ethnic riots, despite being much more numerous. So what makes the killings in France so much more salient?

This is a misunderstanding of the psychology behind the unrest. Feelings of unfairness and unjust persecution (relative to other people you live around) is what motivates social unrest. And not just unfairness in Black/Arab vs non-Black/Arab statistics around police killings. Perceptions of general unfairness (e.g. being mistreated by police but not killed) build up over years and then you have a straw that finally breaks the camel's back. The straw is relatively unimportant in the bigger picture. It's just a catalyst that multiple people with the same built-up feelings can rally around. In order to have a protest movement, you need an acute emotional trigger that's shared by everyone at the same time. Otherwise it can't get started because the anger is too diffuse over time.

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