the prefect of Tarn denounces the “extreme violence” of radical demonstrators with a “paramilitary type” organization

The day after a protest rally against the A69 motorway, marked by clashes between police and demonstrators, the prefect of Tarn was the guest of franceinfo on Sunday.

The mobilization of environmental activists against the A69 motorway between Castres and Toulouse, Saturday June 8 in Tarn, was punctuated by incidents, with a toll of four injured among the police, as well as three demonstrators, according to the prefecture.

The prefect of Tarn denounced Sunday on franceinfo “extreme violence on the part” of 1,200 individuals “radicals”Who “had come to break things, without any connection with the A69 construction site”. “The assessment that we can draw up is first of all extreme violence on the part of these individuals, with the use of mortar fire and the throwing of projectiles with a catapult of Molotov cocktails”, said prefect Michel Vilbois. A fire brigade vehicle and three gendarmerie vehicles were damaged. “A gendarmerie vehicle was hit by a Molotov cocktail inside which there were two people”added the prefect.

No one has yet been arrested, announced the prefect of Tarn. “In our system and under the control of the prosecution, there are indeed teams of judicial investigators who took a certain number of photos yesterday (Saturday) to be able to identify these violent individuals”, he clarified. Radical protesters “use peaceful demonstrators and the cause to equip themselves in an extremely discreet, extremely organized manner, hiding their weapons and their protective effects until the last moment”he explained, making it difficult to seize objects intended for weapons upstream. “This is also the reason why I banned the demonstration, at the request of the Minister of the Interior”continued Michel Vilbois. “Their paramilitary type organization still allows them to have this type of equipment”regretted the prefect.

At the end of the day on Saturday, the clashes had stopped, indicated the prefect of Tarn, adding that the police remained mobilized until the end of the mobilization on Sunday. “Our objective has been achieved, noted the prefect of Tarn, that is to say that it was a question of avoiding any deterioration on businesses, as we experienced last October and December , or even on the A69 construction site.