what is the profile of the demonstrators?

They were thousands, Saturday March 25, coming from all over France, to go to Sainte-Soline (Two Sevres). Among the demonstrators, some sought clashes with the police. 1,500 individuals, according to the Deux-Sèvres prefecture. Equipped with shields and projectiles, some came from abroad. Before arriving on the scene, they were already preparing for the confrontation. “I’m willing to go as far as destroying this basin no matter what it takes“, confided a man.

peaceful participants

On the sidelines, other participants favored pacifist methods. In the middle of the crowd, the anti-basin farmers did not participate in the violence, but hope to make their voices heard. “We are not associated with it directly, but we are in parallel, and each has its own means of action.“, says Laurent Therond, winemaker.

Marine Tondelier, national secretary of EELV, deplores the violence, without condemning it. “We have always said that we were non-violent demonstrators among the environmentalists, (…) but we will not stop coming to the demonstrations because the maintenance of order is not going well in this country“, she comments.