news

this article is so weird and is doing a lot of legwork to have the reader draw a conclusion that hasn't even been confirmed by officials in France??

like 145 people were all stabbed with needles?? I mean, sure its one thing to scratch/jab someone with a needle but if you were trying to get someone to ingest GHB/another dateremoved drug, surely spiking a bunch of drinks would be way easier at a festival than presumably carrying around a vial of some injectable drug and having to actually push down on the plunger after sticking someone with the needle???????

Before the party, posts on social media had called for women to be targeted during the festivities.

why is this an embedded link that I presumed was going to be a link to an article about the threats/posts, but is instead actually just a separate 2 month old article about some UK Netflix drama about an incel??

In Paris, investigations were opened after three people, including a 15-year-old girl and an 18-year-old male, reported being stabbed in separate incidents across Paris, prosecutors said.

Fourteen participants in the festivities were seriously injured, including a 17-year-old who was hospitalized after being found sitting on the street with stab wounds to the lower abdomen.

Were the majority of these people actually stabbed/scratched with a knife or something - because i would not call the site of a needle prick a 'stab wound' (although I get the phrasing if that is the case, since those mentioned are victims of some sort of 'stabbing' either way) and for someone to have multiple across their lower abdomen sounds like they were actually stabbed by a knife or something. I mean, I guess someone could've just jabbed them multiple times with a needle

Thirteen members of law enforcement were also injured.

honestly don't believe that 13 cops were all also stabbed by needles, if only because they all should have been completely sober unlike the festival goers and - surely if you are a gun-toting cop and feel yourself get stabbed with a needle, you're not gonna ignore it and go "they got away" & yet the fact that 13 of them somehow all apparently did so?

and like sure, as someone who has been a t1 diabetic for 15+ years - it is not hard for me to imagine someone taking like a 30G needle and making a few quick pokes into someone's exposed skin in a large crowd & managing to get away - but to do it to 13 cops and 130 other people across the entire country??? and no one catches a single one of the perpetrators in the moment??

Two men were also arrested in the centre of the north-eastern city of Metz on suspicion of syringe attacks. The regional public broadcaster France 3 reported that one man had been caught with a syringe and a woman who complained of being stabbed with one had recognised the other.

The local prosecutor’s office in Metz said the alleged victims were believed to be under 18. One of the alleged suspects, a man aged 20, was previously known to police for violence.

The local public radio station Ici France reported that several young women had complained of being stabbed with syringes in Évreux and Rouen in Normandy. One woman was taken to hospital with pains in her left arm where she believed a needle had been stuck into her. In the western city of Tours, 13 women complained to fire services on duty at a music event that someone had been pricked them with a syringe.

The Guardian basically has the same vague article but at least gave a bit more information about some of the attacks - so let me be clear that I'm not saying 'no women were stabbed by needles' because clearly at least some legitimately were, but even with the additional information about some of the attacks it leaves a lot unsaid...

Like only 1 person has actually been caught with a syringe & only one victim recognized one of the other suspects? Not inconceivable given the fact that ideally, if you're gonna stab someone with a syringe in a crowd you'd probably do it from behind - but again, a lot of this seems like "there was previous fear about this in 2022 so a lot of drunk people/dumb cops are already primed to think 'i've been stabbed with a needle' upon seeing a scratch on their arm"

anyways i support women and think all women should be able to kill at least 3 men without impunity (maybe even more) throughout their lives but I think this reporting is on the same level journalistically as something like "200 Kids in California Hospitalized After Parents Report Finding Psychedelics Mixed Into Halloween Candy" or like "Thousands of Teenagers Dead After Doing TikTok Trend Across Country" would be. Do not call me a misogynist or say I don't believe women because that is not the point of this, admittedly long and unprompted comment.