Lille, la saison des pluies.

4PM
Just a regular Saturday afternoon in France in 2019. I join one of my friends, an activist on the main
place of Lille, Place de la Republique. We peacefully leave the main square and start heading towards
Rue Solferino, one of the biggest boulevards of the city. Music, drums, and chants start to mix together, people are happy to be there and to fight for their rights. Today it has been 3 years that Selom and Mathis, two kids, died while trying to escape the police in the South of Lille. They got hit by a train trying to flee from a police car chasing them. Most of the chants and songs are dedicated to them. The atmosphere quickly changes when we meet the first police group. Wearing their anti-riot uniform, they force the demonstration to go a certain way, completely different from what the original plan of the march was. My friend told me to come with her, a bit closer to the head of the procession. At the head of it, the ambiance is a bit tenser, people start to organize themselves. The police are surrounding part of the group of protesters. There is a bit more than a hundred police officer on duty this day, at least in that one small street. The tension becomes palpable. Suddenly, the people around me start to dress up. Those around me begin to empty their bags as they hide under ski masks, using swimming goggles and respiratory masks to protect themselves from what is to come.. I recognize my friend and some other people under their masks, nobody talks, a simple nod and a group of five-person decide to leave the main part of the group. Since we put our hood on, everyone observes you. All our senses are overstimulated. I quickly move my head, left and right glancing at the cops. All of the sudden, the loud noise of an exploding window. It has just started.