Clichy-sous-Bois, France – In life, they were uncelebrated. In death, Zyed Benna, 17, and Bouna Traore, 15, have inspired more than 10 days of riots that have spread from housing pro- jects in the suburbs of Paris to cities and towns across Europe.
A chance encounter with the police on a walk back from a soccer game last month ended with the two young men dead and a friend seriously injured in what the authorities have called an accidental electrocution.
As for the action that apparently led to the deaths – fleeing a police identity inspection – other youths in the housing project empathized.
“I know why they ran away when they saw the police, and I have done the same thing many times myself,” said Diadie Camara, 18, a friend of Traore.
According to two initial police investigations, the incident began at 5:20 p.m. on Oct. 27, when a squad of police officers arrived to investigate a possible break-in at a construction site.
By 5:50 p.m., the police had brought six youths back to the police station at Livry-Gargan for questioning. As they questioned the youths, computer screens in the station blacked out and several areas nearby suffered a power failure.
That blackout, at 6:12 p.m., was caused by what police called the electrocution of the two youths and the injury of their friend Muttin Altun, 17, as they hid in a transformer at an electrical substation.
According to statements by Altun, who remains hospitalized with injuries, a group of 10 or so friends had been playing soccer on a nearby field and were returning home when they saw the police patrol.
They all fled in different directions to avoid the lengthy questioning that youths in the housing projects say they often face from the police. They say they are required to present identity papers and can be held as long as four hours at the police station, and sometimes their parents must come before the police will release them.
That evening, as news of the deaths spread, youths began to burn cars, break windows and vandalize bus stops in Clichy-sous-Bois.