The Swiss city of Lausanne has seen two consecutive nights of violent unrest following the death of a 17-year-old migrant, who crashed a scooter while fleeing police early Sunday.
Authorities said the teenager, identified only as Marvin M., struck a garage wall while riding a stolen scooter around 3:45 a.m. Sunday and died despite emergency efforts.
The public prosecutor of the canton of Vaud has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the crash.
Riots in Prélaz
By Sunday evening, about 100 masked youths gathered in Lausanne’s Prélaz neighborhood, throwing fireworks, burning trash bins, and damaging public buses, police said.
The violence escalated Monday night, with 150–200 people blocking streets with burning containers, torching buses, and pelting officers with stones. Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, firing 54 tear gas grenades and arresting seven people.
Switzerland is experiencing its first migrant riots.
Violence broke out in Lausanne after a 17-year-old drove a stolen scooter into a brick wall and died while trying to escape the police.
Around 100 other young criminals later smashed up the neighborhood, clashed with the riot… pic.twitter.com/W3KVPTG26K
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 26, 2025
Lausanne security councillor Pierre-Antoine Hildbrand condemned the violence, saying: “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.”
Police Conduct Under Scrutiny
The incident is the third death in Lausanne in less than three months during a police intervention. Since 2016, seven such deaths have been recorded in Lausanne and the wider Vaud region, five involving men of African origin.
Prosecutors said evidence suggests a “significant distance” between the scooter and the police car that followed Marvin, adding there was “no contact” between them at the time of the crash.
The unrest comes as Lausanne police face controversy after racist, sexist, and discriminatory messages were uncovered in private WhatsApp groups used by officers. Four officers have been suspended, with more suspensions possible.
Political Reactions
Lausanne’s Socialist mayor, Grégoire Junod, said the city faces a “systemic discrimination problem” and called for cultural change within the police to restore trust.
Thibault Schaller, a local councillor for the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), said he was attacked by rioters on Monday night, describing on social media how a group of 10–15 people surrounded and struck him before he managed to escape.
Immigration Tensions
Switzerland has admitted more than 200,000 refugees in the past decade, many from Eritrea, Somalia, Syria, and Afghanistan. The SVP has warned that uncontrolled immigration is fueling unrest and is pushing for a national referendum to cap the country’s population at 10 million by 2050.
Foreigners making up more than a quarter of Switzerland’s population, one of the highest rates in Europe.
