As in 2019, the National Rally list came first in the European elections in this small village in Drôme, “painfully marked” by the death of the 16-year-old. But the far-right party’s score has almost doubled in five years.
Around the Crépol village hall, the candles, flowers and signs in tribute to Thomas, stabbed there almost seven months ago, are no longer there. The seals have been lifted. Seen from the outside, the beige plastered building, where the village ball was held on the night of his death, has become innocuous again. But residents, like Monique*, who lives a few hundred meters away, fear returning there. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get there.”breathes this retiree, very marked by the death of the 16-year-old teenager.
Like all her neighbors, Monique remains upset by the tragedy. A grandmother, she harbors a feeling of concern for her grandchildren. To the point of placing the National Rally at the head of the European elections? If Monique does not prefer to reveal the content of her vote, she is “very satisfied” to know that Jordan Bardella’s list is in the lead in Crépol, far ahead of those of Renaissance and the PS.
As in 2019, the far-right party came first on Sunday June 9, but with 45.7% of the votes collected, it almost doubled its score in five years. Of the 437 villagers registered, 265 voted, including 118 for the RN and 10 for the Reconquest list led by Marion Maréchal.
“The murder of Thomas has brought insecurity back to a village of 600 inhabitants”, estimates a trader from Crépol, where there is still a mini-market, a cheese shop, a butcher’s shop and a tobacco bar. She settled in the canton of Drôme des Collines ten years ago, “for peace of mind”like most of the residents who have moved to Crépol in recent years.
“In the European elections, I didn’t want to vote either for the extremes or for Macron. So I voted for Raphaël Glucksmann.”
A trader from Crépolat franceinfo
But the New Popular Front does not seduce her: “I am almost ready to vote for the RN, because I want change.”
“People are fed up. We want to see what the RN can do in power, because it has never happened before”, blurts Laurent*, leaning against the door of his car. For this young man of 22, who grew up in Crépol and works in construction, the death of Thomas also weighed in the vote. Some young people no longer want to go out. “It’s a shock, it stays in your mind”, testifies Laurent, present on the evening of the ball. He left when the situation “slipped” in front of the village hall.
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Shot with a knife, Thomas, “the child of the country”, a high school student in Romans-sur-Isère, the nearest medium-sized town, died on the road to the hospital on November 19. The next day, the ultra-right, but also the extreme right and part of the right, spoke of a punitive expedition linked to “anti-white racism”. The investigation has since demonstrated that the reality is much more complex and that we are moving away from this thesis, which nevertheless remains well anchored in people’s minds.
Laurent thus claims to have seen “land” In the evening “a group of people in tracksuits with hoods”. “Young people from the neighborhoods of Valence or Romans, who live in the city, act smart and think they are kings”assures the young man, who recognizes that his feelings are based on “the look”. However, young people from Romans-sur-Isère know those from Crépol, some attend the same high school. In this case, fourteen people, including at least three minors, are indicted, but the author of the fatal stabbing has not been identified and the course of the events is still not clear.
From the bowling green to the school square, where parents wait for the arrival of the school bus, few residents agree to comment on the election results. Several of them do not vote, out of disinterest. Others prefer not to reveal the contents of the ballot slipped into the ballot box. Mathieu* accepts: he voted for the National Rally, as in previous elections. With the victory of the far-right party in the European elections, “France will be able to find its origins”estimates this 32-year-old man, who considers that“there are more and more immigrants”. A speech that we find among several residents interviewed in the village.
But this is not the case for all young Creoles. “It scares me. Because it’s a party that doesn’t offer anything for disabled people, and that goes against women’s rights”, explains Léa*, 27 years old, living here for four years. For Francis*, a 60-year-old former “yellow vest”, who says he “very left”the good result of the far right is not a surprise: “In conversations, it came up.”
However, there is no question for him of convincing his neighbors to change their vote. “I’m not sure my solution for showing anger is any better than theirs. And there’s plenty to be angry about! Look, the village has become a medical desert.” In fact, in Crépol, there has been no doctor for ten years.
“I wonder if it’s racism or a sanction vote”, asks François*, encountered below, along the river. At his side, one of his friends, who does not have French nationality, intervenes: “I have a high level at pétanque, but here, when I play, I still feel like I’m the awkward outsider.”
“It’s been thirty years that people have been voting quite a bit for the extreme right here.”
François*, resident of Crépolat franceinfo
Martine Lagut, the mayor of Crépol, has appeared without a label since her election in 2014, with a marked right-wing tendency. She has just agreed to be the deputy of Emmanuelle Anthoine, the outgoing Republican deputy, who is going back to campaign in the fourth constituency of Drôme. A symbolic choice, made at the microphone of France Bleu, “to shed light on this territory which has been painfully marked” and allow “youth to rebuild themselves with republican values”.
Along the sidewalks of Crépol, colorful confetti is scattered, vestiges of the traditional scarecrow festival, organized Saturday June 1 and Sunday June 2. This year, the event took the form of a tribute to Thomas. To move on, without forgetting. Many villagers want it, but the presence of politicians rekindles tensions. So, when Eric Zemmour burst in, according to the testimonies collected, some took selfies and others left, annoyed.
At the tobacco bar, the owner no longer wants to hear politics discussed, especially in front of journalists, who are no longer really welcome. Under the town hall, the twenty or so elderly people who play cards on Thursday afternoons are annoyed to see them parade. “What happened almost seven months ago hasn’t changed anything. We’re just fed up with this bunch of rascals at the top of the state!” Simone* rages.
“Why are you coming to Crépol? The 45% for the RN, it’s not just here, it’s throughout France!”
Simone*, resident of Crépolat franceinfo
Charlotte, co-founder of Libre&Sauvage, a popular education and local development association, fears that the political and media ballet will resume during the electoral campaign for the legislative elections. And once again, the reputation of the village is tarnished. “Crépol cannot be summed up as a village of racists”, supports the thirty-year-old, who runs summer camps. In April, she brought a group of seven children, aged 6 to 13, near the Crépol village hall, to “let them reclaim the streets without being afraid”. The host wants “carry a different voice”while regaining a semblance of normality. “We remain a small country village like any other.”
* First names have been changed.