Last month, a 15-year-old boy called Yuriy was beaten senseless by a gang of youths in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. The attack made national headlines for three reasons: it was caught on camera; the victim was white; the 15th arrondissement is not usually the setting for such violence.
The political, celebrity and media elite expressed their outrage as footage of the attack went viral. The French footballer Antoine Griezmann, for example, tweeted his support for the teenager, as did Gérald Darmanin, the Interior Minister, and the city mayor Anne Hidalgo.
It has subsequently been alleged that there was more to the attack than first relayed by the media. According to prosecutors, Yuriy had a screwdriver on his person when he was attacked and there are allegations he may have been a member of a rival gang.
It’s when the violence intrudes into the more upmarket districts of Paris that it makes the national news
In the same week that Yuriy was accosted, a 13-year-old boy was badly beaten and nearly thrown under the wheels of the car.
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