“It didn’t take much more for there to be deaths”, was alarmed Tuesday, November 23 on franceinfo Claude Copel, the regional secretary of the SGP Police FO Unit union in Martinique, after the police were targeted by live ammunition on the night of Monday to Tuesday. Since Monday, Martinique has been affected by a general strike against the health pass and the vaccination obligation imposed on caregivers, like what is happening in Guadeloupe.
franceinfo: What happened during the night from Monday to Tuesday in Martinique?
Claude Copel: We have fallen into an ambush in wanting to ensure the protection of firefighters in an arson. We received shots with caliber 12: they are therefore shots with live ammunition on the police force. This is clearly an assassination attempt, let’s not be afraid of words. A group of people took advantage of the quite legitimate demonstration of certain Martinicans concerning the health pass and the vaccination obligation. They took advantage of this imbalance in the functioning of society to attack the police, shoot live ammunition and set up ambushes to ensure that there were deaths on the side of the police. Even if no injuries were to be deplored and the damage was only material, when you have 12 gauge falling on the driver’s door leaf, that means that you didn’t need much more. so that there are deaths. We bang our fists on the table and say that now is enough. It is not by sending, as for Guadeloupe, the Raid and the GIGN on an ad hoc basis to extinguish the fire that the situation will be restored in our territories.
Are you still waiting for these reinforcements or would that add fuel to the fire?
It is obvious that as long as there are reinforcements, it is better. This allows colleagues to rest because, for several months, we have been on the alert on the scene of intervention and maintenance of order. Above all, we want the reinforcement sent from the Ministry of the Interior to be sustainable. It should not be a reinforcement that will come because things have risen crescendo and, two or three weeks later, that these police officers return to France.
Have you been lacking human and material resources for several months?
We have been short of resources for years. We have had a lot of wounded in our ranks, people who came close to death as a police officer just to protect the citizen. We cannot tolerate our supervisory ministry waking up one fine morning and actually saying to itself that we need reinforcements. When you have the responsibility, it is a sovereign duty to protect a population. You must put in place all the means in terms of men, materials and technologies to be able to protect its population. We have the feeling of being left behind by the Republic. The reinforcements would also make it possible to ensure that there is appeasement in this population. Fortunately, we are professionals and we know how to manage our composure, but we are still men.
Do you feel that the tension could rise further in the next few days?
We would not want what is happening in Guadeloupe at the moment to happen in Martinique. This mimicry effect exists in this delinquent population. In addition, I make the difference between those who demonstrate concerning this health crisis and those who start from midnight or 1 am and will attack the police. It is obvious that this is starting to rise in crescendo. Let us not allow this minority of delinquents to continue without problems to be able to attack the interests of the Martinican population because it is indeed Martinican people who risk killing Martiniquais. We shouldn’t get to that point.