The rue Léon Nautin black with people. Wednesday night. Proof that the Stéphanois have not forgotten the ultra-violent assault of Enrico, the owner of the Blackbird café, beaten up by a gang of young people for trying to help a man attacked in front of his establishment.
“I shed my tear”
From his hospital bed, Enrico was able to speak, by videoconference, to the hundreds of people who came to support him: “I think everyone identified themselves, everyone has already been bothered in the street, but seeing everyone waving to me was just amazing.”
– Sebastien Cabrita dos Santos
Much emotion for this man who says “not wanting to pull the blanket” and who fears, from his hospital bed, that the other merchants of the district will suffer from his unfortunate adventure when he sees frightened customers disappear.
Not an isolated event
“The mayor says this is an isolated event. It is false”, gets carried away Elisa, Enrico’s daughter, after a quarter of an hour’s discussion with Gael Perdriau, before continuing: “He assures us that a static police force is in place, in the street, in particular on weekends. We have never seen it, there may be a police car that makes turns from time to time. .. we have to be helped “.
– Sebastien Cabrita dos Santos
In the crowd, there were friends, family, traders but also simple customers, like Isabelle, “traumatic that this kind of event could happen in her hometown”. Like a majority of those present this Wednesday evening, she calls for more police presence to ensure security, especially around bars.
The mayor of the town, Gael Perdriau, recently wanted to defend his mandate in this area: Doubling of the staff of the municipal police since 2014, number of surveillance cameras tripled and this 5th place in the ranking of the Figaro cities that invest the most in security.
He has already said he wants to take advantage of the arrival, this Thursday, of the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin in Saint-Étienne to call for the reinforcement of a hundred national police officers.