the testimony of André Mondange, the mayor attacked in Avignon

Physically attacked during the night from Thursday to Friday in Avignon, the mayor of Péage-de-Roussillon (Isère) reacts on franceinfo.

After his attack, the various left-wing mayor of Péage-de-Roussillon, André Mondange, said on franceinfo on Sunday December 24, “very surprised” And “a little outdated” by “the scale of this affair”. Many politicians reacted after he was physically attacked in Avignon (Vaucluse), on the night of Thursday to Friday, while he was in a bar with his relatives. “All this support and this solidarity reassures me”, he adds. He also filed a complaint.

franceinfo: What happened to you during the night from Thursday to Friday?

André Mondange: I was on a private trip to Avignon for the presentation [soutenance] from a history thesis of my nephew. Everything had gone very well. We had reservations at a pub to celebrate the event with family. The party went very well. Simply, at a given moment, individuals arrived. They approached me at first in a “normal” way, I would say. They asked me what badge I had in my buttonhole. I told them it was the mayor’s badge. They asked me which town I was mayor of. I told them “in a small town of 7,000 inhabitants, between Lyon and Valence”. When the pub closed, we were on the terrace. They reintroduced themselves into the family group. They asked me my political affiliation. I didn’t want to answer. I told them, “Look, this is not the place, I don’t want to talk about this, it’s private.” Afterwards, they attacked my daughter who is mixed race and they very deliberately made racist remarks.

Were you attacked as mayor, or was it just a racist attack?

Both. They knew very well that I was mayor. They wanted to know my political affiliation. I did not answer. They told me “Isère is certainly the left, rather PCF [Parti communiste français]”Then, they made deliberately very racist comments, particularly towards my daughter. She was with her cousins, they responded, they didn’t let it happen. They were right. When they saw that They were beaten with words, they responded with violence. One of them wanted to hit one of my nieces with a glass beer bottle. He actually touched her. There, we had to protect the family group and inevitably, there were blows that fell on both sides.

Do you have any after-effects?

I have a bit of pain everywhere, and I have a big bruise on my face. Naturally, we are all shocked by this event which is intolerable, including those who are not physically injured.

“The facts are extremely serious: they did not hesitate to hit a person who they knew was mayor and therefore holder of public authority.”

André Mondange

at franceinfo

As for racist remarks, they are intolerable. Racism is a crime, not an opinion. On the other hand, attacking people with a bottle in their hand is very serious. It’s considered a weapon.

Many politicians have given you their support. How do you react to it?

I am very surprised, and a little overwhelmed by the scale that this affair is taking. All this support and solidarity reassures me. Afterwards, we must first of all not let anything slip by, and that attacks on elected officials must be harshly punished. If there are those who are not sure of the danger of the extreme right, everyone must realize that it is dangerous and defend ideas that are nauseating. They are not republicans [ses représentants], we cannot consider them as such. These people must be fought.

What must be done to ensure that elected officials are better protected?

If we can improve the protection of elected officials, we must do it. Afterwards, I am well aware that we are not going to put a bodyguard behind each mayor. This is not desirable. As for this little mayor’s cockade [l’insigne qu’il portait lors de son agression], I put it not out of vanity, or to say “you see, I am mayor”. No, it’s because I don’t want to leave the symbols of the Republic to the far right. We left these things to the National Front for too long, in particular. “Blue, white, red” does not belong to the extreme right. The values ​​of the Republic, “liberty, equality, fraternity, secularism”, these are our values, certainly not those of the far right.