A few days before the first round of the legislative elections, the subject of maintaining order becomes epidermal. After the controversy surrounding the Champions League final at the Stade de France, a news item that occurred on Saturday June 4 in Paris sparked controversy. When they refused to comply, the police fired on a vehicle in the 18th arrondissement, killing a passenger and injuring the driver.
>> Paris: what we know about the death of a passenger in a car, shot and killed by police denouncing a refusal to comply
A tweet from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, published on Monday June 6, particularly caused a reaction. The leader of France Insoumise writes: “The police kill and the rebel group Alliance justifies the shootings and the death for “refusal to comply”. Shame is when?“.
The police kill and the rebel group Alliance justifies the shootings and the death for “refusal to comply”. Shame is when?
— Jean-Luc Melenchon (@JLMelenchon) June 5, 2022
Comments immediately denounced by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, as well as the Alliance union, which announced a complaint. Jean-Luc Mélenchon assumes his words, which also embarrass on the left, in his own camp.
Within the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes), many do not want a controversy that would slow down the momentum in the polls, but some socialist executives are still uncomfortable. “It was never our line, it’s a tweet I wouldn’t have done“, comments Dieynaba Diop, spokesperson for the PS who finds the vocabulary used by Jean-Luc Mélenchon “too strong“.
“The facts are serious, we deplore what happened, while awaiting the conclusions of the investigation, we must remain measured in the words”, continues the deputy mayor of Mureaux (Yvelines), while joining the rebellious leader on the merits: “We have a real concern for maintaining order, we have to review everything, we said it concerning the Stade de France, but when you are a political leader, you cannot say that the police kill, it is a generalization”, she concludes.
It is not only among the socialists that we distance ourselves, it is also the case among environmentalists, like Renaud Le Berre. On franceinfo, the candidate Nupes in the legislative elections in the constituency of French people living in Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Monaco, claims not to have “the same lyrics“that Jean-Luc Mélenchon:”When there is a drama like this, you always have to be careful, have all the elements of the investigation to decide“and ensures”condemn any abuse.“
Among the Communists, it’s the opposite: we don’t see the problem. Ian Brossat, Fabien Roussel’s campaign director during the presidential election and elected representative of the 18th arrondissement, thus brushes aside the controversy: “There is no divergence. It is still not normal that a refusal to comply leads to death“, while recognizing, all the same, that he would not have formulated things in the same way.