Man shot and killed after anti-semitic mob surrounds 2 soccer fans in Paris

[cali]

PARIS: French security and sports officials condemned racist violence by a mob of soccer fans in the capital Friday after a black police officer seeking to protect a Jewish fan of a visiting Israeli team shot and killed one man and wounded another.

The officer, Antoine Granomort, 32, rushed to the aid of a French fan of the Hapoel Tel Aviv club late Thursday after the Israeli team defeated Paris Saint-Germain in a UEFA Cup match, according to the police and witnesses.

About a hundred fans cornered the two men near the Parc des Princes, the stadium in Paris where the game was played, shouting racist and anti-Semitic epithets at them and making Nazi salutes, according to the accounts. When they began beating Granomort and threatening to kill the fan, the officer first lobbed a tear gas canister, then fired his service revolver.

A 25-year-old man was killed and another man, 26, was wounded. Both victims were identified by the police as members of a far-right group supporting Paris Saint-Germain, a club that has a long history of hooliganism among its fans.

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http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/24/news/paris.php

The police officer should be commended for protecting the fans.

[madinmaryland]

1. Violence and hatred knows no boundaries.

:sad:

[cali]

2. Particularly when it comes to soccer fans

What is it about soccer that it attracts the ugliest fans in the sports world?

[leveymg]

3. This is going to get worse before it crawls back under its rock.

[originalpckelly]

4. And on top of being anti-Semites, they're plain old racists:

"Overt racism is a common occurrence at the Parc des Princes, the home stadium of PSG, with fans mocking black players with monkey chants and far-right slogans."

Absolutely ridiculous. Why the hell would someone let this crap go on? The government in France needs to figure out a way to crack down on these assholes.

[cali]

5. Yeah, but I don't think it's just France

The racism exhibited by soccer fans happens all over Europe.

[Catherine Vincent]

6. Similar attitudes are here in the states also.

This was a while back but when Pat Ewing was a basketball star at Georgetown and they played one of the rival colleges, some of the rowdy students threw bananas on the court.

[cali]

7. Nothing in the states compares

to the hooliganism and racism of European soccer fans.

[MidwestTransplant]

8. Did you ever see Green Street Hooligans? Good movie. You should check it out.