On April 29, 1992, the Los Angeles riots were sparked by the acquittal of four police officers accused in the beating of Rodney King, leaving over 50 dead.

Francois Mitterrand, French President at the time, blamed America’s "conservative" society and lack of social welfare for the riots, indicating that such riots would never happen in France due to the high levels of humanity and “social protection” in that country. Right – if he were alive today, I would like to seem him park his car in the Paris suburbs; or heck, even drive through them at all.