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The health crisis is exacerbating tensions. In one year, violence against elected officials has increased by 50%, and in the past three months, 540 deputies have suffered threats, insults or attacks. After the vote on the vaccination pass, those who were present in the Hemicycle almost all received death threats. “Special Envoy” wanted to measure the extent of the phenomenon.
“A deputy is going to die very soon getting to know my Kalashnikov.” “I’m thinking about how to electrocute you, or stab you.” “It doesn’t matter how we kill you. You will quickly understand that our freedom should not be touched.” “We’re going to burn you with your family.” These hateful (and anonymous) messages and many others of the same type have been transmitted to “Special Envoy” by elected officials of all stripes.
Why this surge of hatred? Since the vote on the vaccine pass in mid-January 2022, the discord between “pro” and “anti” has been exacerbated. The deputies present that evening almost all received anonymous death threats.
Out of 577 deputies, 116 recently received anonymous emails
To measure the extent of the phenomenon, “Special Envoy” contacted the 577 deputies. One hundred and sixteen elected officials, all parties combined, said they had received emails from unknown senders in recent weeks. Emails often sent from ephemeral messaging, created for the occasion. Some elected officials also received handwritten letters to their office, or directly to their homes. And many of them were able to find in their mail a list mentioning the personal addresses of several deputies of all persuasions.
“Let’s say it’s mostly your family that’s scared, confides an elected official to whom the police would have advised not to “no longer go to work at [sa] permanence”. MPs are concerned for their safety and that of their loved ones. This “mode of expression [qui devient] quite classic, unfortunately”, according to one of them, is also “very concerning for the health of our democracy”.
Excerpt from “Threats to elected officials”, a report broadcast in “Special Envoy” on February 3, 2022.
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