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A violent turn of events marred Arsenal’s Premier League victory parade in London on Sunday as six individuals suffered stab wounds. This came just hours after Parisian celebrations for PSG’s Champions League win descended into chaos on the Champs Élysées, which was likened to a scene of “urban guerrilla warfare.”
The streets of North London were flooded with an estimated one million fans eager to commemorate Arsenal’s first Premier League triumph in 22 years. On Monday, the Metropolitan Police reported the arrest of 24 individuals during the festivities.
Among the injured was a man in his 20s, who was initially hospitalized in critical condition but has since stabilized. Fortunately, police stated that the other victims sustained only minor injuries.
Out of the 24 arrests, 10 individuals were charged with assaulting police officers. One officer suffered a hand laceration, while another was struck on the head.
Additionally, authorities detained three people on suspicion of sexual assault, and another trio faced drug-related charges.
Cops said two arrests were made for drunken and disorderly behavior, while one hater hurled a homophobic slur at an officer.
Arrests were also made for disturbing the peace, obstruction and ignoring dispersal orders.
Four police vans were left with broken lights and several dents, too.
Arsenal won its league title May 19 — before Paris Saint-Germaine then defeated it in the separate UEFA, or Union of European Football Associations, Champions League finals in Budapest, Hungary, on penalty kicks Saturday.
France erupted in glee over PSG’s win, sending those fans running amok.
Nine hundred people were arrested across France on Saturday – a 45% rise over last year’s chaos when PSG’s Champions League also won against Inter Milan. Almost 180 cops were injured in melees, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.
A person was even killed on what was supposed to be a night of jubilation celebrating the back-to-back European cup triumphs.
More than 306 people – including 81 minors – were taken into custody over the violence, Parisian prosecutors said.
“Justice will be uncompromising,” warned Paris’s public prosecutor, Laure Beccuau.
Hooligans lit fires to cars and ransacked stores – and a group of unruly fans even tried to raid a police station in Paris’s ritzy 8th arrondissement — the district home to the City of Lights’ famed Champs Elysées and Arc de Triomphe.
The “Champs-Elysees avenue and its surroundings ceased to be a place of celebration and became an arena of urban guerrilla warfare,” officials in the 8th arrondissement blasted.
Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s National Rally party, likened the scenes to a “civil war,” Agence France-Presse reported.
Cops were forced to disperse a blockade that had formed surrounding Paris’s main ring road five times.
Two people also were injured when a driver lost control of their car and smashed into a restaurant terrace.
Calmer scenes were reported Sunday in France, with around 100,000 revelers gathering in front of the Eiffel Tower for PSG’s title parade at the time.
But French President Emmanuel Macron lamented the shocking earlier scenes.
“This is not soccer, this is not sport, this is not what we love,” he said.
“We will be uncompromising with those who have been caught. We do not want to see this happen again. It’s over. We’ve had enough. This must end.”
Nuñez defensively batted back staunch backlash over the arrest figures.
“If there are so many arrests, it’s because this work was obviously well done,” he said.
More than 500 arrests were made last year across France after Qatari-owned PSG prevailed in Munich, Germany.
With Post wires