Riots erupt in Swiss city after migrant teen is killed in scooter crash while fleeing police
By Imogen Garfinkel and Taryn Kaur Pedler
Daily Mail
Aug 27, 2025

Marvin M, (pictured) a 17-year-old Swiss resident of Lausanne, was fleeing police on a stolen scooter when he hit a garage wall and died at around 3:45am Sunday, despite resuscitation attempts by emergency services
Dramatic riots have erupted in a Swiss city after a migrant teen was killed in a scooter crash while fleeing the police.
Riot cops clashed with protesters who hurled Molotov cocktails in Lausanne as officials desperately tried to put a lid on escalating violence.
The unrest comes with the Olympic capital's police in the spotlight after four officers were suspended Monday following the unearthing of racist, sexist and discriminatory messages in private WhatsApp groups.
Marvin M, a 17-year-old Swiss resident of Lausanne, was fleeing police on a stolen scooter, when he hit a garage wall and died at around 3.45am Sunday, despite resuscitation attempts by emergency services.
The public prosecutor of the canton of Vaud has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the accident.
It was the third death in less than three months in Lausanne during a police intervention. There have been seven such deaths in the city and the wider Vaud region since 2016. Five involved men of African origin.
On Sunday night, 'around 100 young people, wearing balaclavas' gathered in the Prélaz neighborhood from 9.30pm, throwing fireworks at police, burning trash cans and damaging a bus belonging to the Lausanne transport company.
The following night, 150 to 200 people set up roadblocks using trash containers, setting them on fire, police said. Some 140 cops clashed with the rioters, who torched buses and pelted them with stones. Police also responded to the riots using tear gas and rubber bullets.

A person sets a traffic cone on fire as burning containers block the street during the third night of riots in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday August 26, 2025

Burning containers block the street during the third night of riots in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday August 26, 2025

Lausanne authorities sought to head off a third night of violence in the Swiss city
Police used 54 tear gas grenades and made seven arrests.
'Pyrotechnic devices were used against the police; it's scandalous,' Lausanne city's security councillor Pierre-Antoine Hildbrand told the Keystone-ATS news agency.
'We are facing a movement that has nothing to do with the death of this youth, but which is using it as an excuse to attack law enforcement. It's disgraceful.'
Lausanne authorities sought Tuesday to head off a third night of violence in the Swiss city.
Police have acknowledged that a car was following the teenager who died early Sunday. But the Vaud public prosecutors' office issued a statement 'with the aim of clarifying and calming the situation'.
It said two motorists approached the teenager before police arrived at the crash site. This tended to confirm there was a 'significant distance' between the scooter and the pursuing police vehicle and 'no contact' between them, the statement added.
Officers confirmed police had been following Marvin before the crash but claimed he lost control at high speed in a 18mph zone.
Despite claims that the scooter was stolen, his family has denied that he was a thief.
His mum insisted to 24 Heures that he was innocent, while his brother wrote online: 'You should be with me, at home, in our room, which we've always shared.'
Thibault Schaller, a local councillor for the Right-wing, anti-immigration Swiss People's Party (SVP), confirmed the account having been at the scene.
Claiming he was attacked, he said on X that a group of about 10 to 15 people surrounded him on all sides and struck him.
'Buses and trash cans set on fire in Prélaz (Lausanne) in reaction to the death of the 17-year-old youth who died Sunday morning while fleeing the police on a stolen scooter,' he tweeted.
'Unaware of what it's about, I head to the scene. Some antifa recognise me, three surround me, back against the wall, and they order me to leave.'
'I refuse and ask what's happening. One pushes me, I push him back then step back, someone shouts something, and ten, fifteen people come running at me from everywhere,' he continued.

A young person walks past fires in a street, in Lausanne, on August 25, 2025, during a second night of rioting following the death of a teenager who tried to escape local police while driving a stolen scooter

Police officers intervene during the second night of riots following the fatal accident involving a minor on a scooter in Lausanne, Switzerland, 25 August 2025

Containers burn during the second night of riots following the fatal accident involving a minor on a scooter in Lausanne, Switzerland, 25 August 2025

Fireworks explode near police officers in riot gear in Lausanne, on August 25, 2025

The unrest comes with the Olympic capital's police in the spotlight after four officers were suspended Monday following the unearthing of racist, sexist and discriminatory messages in private WhatsApp groups
'I run away, take hits, they block my path, I fall, protect myself, I pick up while one or two people tell me to leave. I get up, run, get surrounded again against a wall, blows, then I manage to get away by running,' he said.
Separately, messages from two WhatsApp groups containing existing or former Lausanne police officers came to light via public prosecutors. These contained racist, sexist and discriminatory material.
'There is a systemic discrimination problem that needs to be addressed,' said Lausanne Mayor Gregoire Junod, according to national broadcaster RTS.
A 'cultural change' is needed to prevent such abuses from happening again, he said.
The city revealed the messages at a press conference.
'The municipality is deeply shocked and scandalised by these messages, which harm the credibility of the police as a whole and the necessary relationship of trust between the population and the police,' the city said in a statement.
Four police officers involved in the groups have been suspended, with further suspensions expected to follow.
Lausanne - run by a left-wing coalition of Socialists and Greens - has become the latest flashpoint following the death of the teen.
For years, the city's authorities have championed progressive policies, embracing diversity drives and refugee settlement schemes.
But critics say the reality on the ground tells a very different story.
Over the past decade, Switzerland has taken in more than 200,000 refugees - many from Eritrea, Somalia, Syria and Afghanistan, alongside arrivals from other African and Muslim-majority countries.
What was once hailed as a model of compassion has instead fuelled mounting tensions, with simmering unease now spilling onto the streets.
Left-wing politicians claim 'systemic discrimination' is at fault, with the city's Socialist mayor, Grégoire Junod, promising sweeping reforms to restore trust.

Police officers intervene during the second night of riots following the fatal accident involving a minor on a scooter in Lausanne, Switzerland, 25 August 2025

A 17-year-old Swiss resident of Lausanne fleeing police on a scooter reported stolen on Saturday, hit a wall and died early Sunday, despite resuscitation attempts by emergency services

It was the third death in less than three months in Lausanne during a police intervention

On Sunday night, 'around 100 young people, wearing balaclavas' set fire to several containers and damaged a bus, police said
But critics argue this focus on policing is little more than a distraction – a way to dodge questions over Switzerland's failing immigration policies.
For decades, Switzerland quietly watched as France, Britain and Germany wrestled with unrest linked to immigration and integration.
Now, the same scenes of anger and division are playing out on Swiss streets too.
It comes almost a year after Switzerland announced plans to cap its population to ten million as part of an immigration crackdown under plans put forward by the hard-right People's Party.
The Swiss People's Party (SVP) - which is the largest in the ruling coalition of four parties - launched the anti-immigration initiative in 2023, which was signed by more than 115,000 residents and could be on the ballot as soon as 2026.
The initiative demands that the population of those permanently living in Switzerland doesn't exceed ten million before 2050 after the country first recorded nearly 9 million residents in 2023.
As soon as population numbers reach nine and a half million, the initiative demands that 'temporarily admitted persons [foreigners] shall not receive a residence or settlement permit, Swiss citizenship or any other right of residence.'
After 2050, the initiative demands that the Federal Council sets a new immigration limit based on the excess of births.
In 2023, about 180,000 people immigrated into Switzerland, most of them moving for work.
More than every fourth resident in Switzerland was a foreigner, which is one of the highest rates in Europe.
'Foreigners have contributed significantly to offsetting the shortage of skilled and unskilled labor,' the Swiss Federal Office for Migration told Bloomberg at the time.
1 comment:
I am surprised the Swiss put up with riots. Riots are messy.
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