In Grenoble, an angry tribute to municipal agent Lilian Dejean

The municipal employee was shot dead on Sunday while trying to restrain the perpetrator of a road accident. An unacceptable death at work, according to his colleagues who came to pay tribute to him.

With sad faces under umbrellas by the hundreds, the people of Grenoble came on Monday, September 9, to pay tribute to the municipal agent killed on Sunday. The mayor, Eric Piolle, speaks. “We are here in tribute to Lilian Dejean, in mourning. It is the entire public service that is in mourning. It is the public service that is always present on the ground, that cleans, that prunes, that beautifies, that prepares, that nourishes, that takes care of our society.”

“Public service died with you”says one of the messages written in felt-tip pen on a sign in the town hall. Others speak of the “friend Lilian”of “colleague”. He had been a city agent for 25 years in the cleaning department, like Christophe. “I had known him for 25 years, so he was a friend and a superior. It could have happened to any of us. We are already faced with a lot of incivility from users and this is going too far.”

“We work on the street, so we are on the front line when a tragedy like this happens.”

Christophe, Lilian Dejean’s colleague

to franceinfo

A member of the CGT union, the victim was known to everyone, committed to everyone, underlines Mehdia, a close friend employed at the Maison des habitants. “It was important to him to defend agents for any problem, she testifies. And his life was work. I’ll be honest with you, it makes me sad because I think that work killed him. He comes to work on a Sunday and gets shot for free. His work was important to him. And work today, look.”

During the tribute, Maxime Grand, CGT representative of the city’s territorial agents, denounced an unacceptable death at work. “Our friend and comrade died yesterday (Sunday) morning while carrying out his professional duties in urban cleanliness in the city of Grenoble. Following a traffic accident, he provided assistance, and because he could not bear the injustice, he wanted to hold back the perpetrator of the accident who wanted to flee. The latter took out his weapon and shot him twice, in the chest.”

A sadness and anger felt in particular by the city’s agents. There are 4,000 of them in Grenoble, but the mayor says he has received messages from all over France.