“Civic” rallies were held Monday in front of many town halls in France to say “enough is enough” to the wave of urban violence that began on Tuesday, however in sharp decline last night.
On Sunday, the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) called for “civic mobilization for a return to republican order”, a few hours after a violent car-ram attack that targeted the home of the mayor of L’Haÿ -les-Roses, Vincent Jeanbrun, in the Paris region and caused general indignation.
In this town south of Paris on Monday, a thousand inhabitants accompanied by elected officials marched around the town hall. “It is democracy itself that is under attack,” said Mr. Jeanbrun in front of his town hall, before launching: “Stop, that’s enough! »
Acclaimed by the crowd, the chosen one walking behind a banner “Together for the Republic! “Was framed at the head of the procession of the tenors of his right-wing opposition party, Les Républicains, including the president of the Île-de-France region Valérie Pécresse.
Night riots broke out on June 27, the day Nahel, a 17-year-old boy, was shot at point-blank range by a police motorcyclist during a traffic check in Nanterre. The scene was captured on amateur video.
Wanted since the tragedy, a passenger in the car driven by Nahel – the third occupant of the vehicle – surrendered to the police on Monday.
Device renewed
After five nights of urban violence, that from Sunday to Monday marked a lull, with a number of arrests (157 against more than 1,300 in the night from Friday to Saturday) and fires in sharp decline, and without major incident reported. .
Sign of a still strong tension, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin announced Monday the renewal of the important security device, with 45,000 police and gendarmes mobilized throughout the territory since Friday.
President Emmanuel Macron asked him to maintain a “massive presence” on the ground to guarantee the “return to calm”.
The head of state, who canceled a visit to Germany this weekend, is to receive the presidents of the two chambers of Parliament on Monday, then the mayors of more than 220 municipalities targeted by violence on Tuesday.
According to his services, he would like “meticulous work to be carried out […] to understand in depth the reasons that led to these events” in which very young adolescents are involved.
The average age of those arrested is 17 years old, with sometimes teenagers 12-13 years old, according to the authorities.
60% of those arrested between Tuesday and Sunday were not known to the police.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne will receive the representatives of the political groups in Parliament on Monday afternoon.
On Sunday, she assured that the government would not let “any violence pass” and promised “the greatest firmness” after the attack on Mr. Jeanbrun.
An investigation was opened for “attempted assassination”.
In the center-east of the country, the municipality of the small town of Charly for its part reported that a device intended “unambiguously” to cause a fire had been found on Sunday at the mayor’s home.
On Monday, elected officials, town hall employees and citizens gathered in small groups all over France: 100 people in Nanterre, 200 in Toulouse, 300 in Brest or Mons-en-Baroeul.
“Since Tuesday the nights have been difficult for the inhabitants […] The violence that has followed one another is unacceptable, ”launched the mayor of Nanterre, Patrick Jarry, on Monday.
appeasement
“The time is calm,” he insisted, welcoming a call for calm on Sunday from Nahel’s grandmother, Nadia, who urged the rioters not to break “windows”, “schools “, ” the buses “.
She also asked that the author of the fatal shooting – charged with intentional homicide and imprisoned – pay for his gesture “like everyone else”, ensuring that he had “confidence in justice”.
To support this policeman, “who has done his job and is paying a high price today”, a kitty was launched online by a far-right personality, Jean Messiha, causing indignation on the left. She collected more than a million euros on Monday.
Scrutinized abroad, this wave of violence and the anger of many young inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods recall the riots which shook France for three weeks in 2005, after the death of two teenagers pursued by the police.
For her part, the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castera assured Monday that the “securing of the infrastructures” of the 2024 Olympics in Paris has been “slightly reinforced”. And the town hall of Paris, although “concerned” by urban violence, assured not to have “concern” about possible repercussions on the Olympics.
At the same time, the President of the Congress of the Council of Europe, Leendert Verbeek, condemned on Monday “the worrying intensification and multiplication of violence, attacks and threats” against local elected officials in recent days in France.