Several mayors have been targeted during the urban violence. They found themselves on the front line, some not hesitating to face the young rioters directly. Town halls have been barricaded. The home of the LR mayor of L’Haÿ-les-Roses, Vincent Jeanbrun, was attacked with a ram car on the night of Saturday to Sunday and an investigation was opened for attempted assassination.
France is in shock on Sunday July 2 after a car-ram attack on the home of a mayor, during a fifth night of violence, however of less intensity than the day before. A sign of the seriousness of the crisis experienced since Tuesday June 27 throughout the country, an update on the situation must be made on Sunday evening around President Emmanuel Macron, announced the French presidency.
During this fifth night of urban violence sparked by the death of a 17-year-old boy, Nahelkilled on Tuesday by the police, rioters broke down the gate of Vincent Jeanbrun’s home, Mayor of L’Haÿ-les-Rosesin the southern outskirts of Paris, using a previously burned car, according to a prosecutor in charge of the investigation opened for “attempted assassination”.
“150 town halls or municipal buildings attacked since Tuesday »
A call to elected officials and citizens to gather Monday at 12 p.m. in front of town halls across the country was also launched by the president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), David Lisnard, in a context of resurgence of attacks. against elected officials. The boss of the AMF told AFP of “ 150 town halls or municipal buildings attacked since Tuesday “.
It will be necessary to analyze its phenomena since we have announced them for a long time, we know that they will reproduce and they will be more and more violent.
David Lisnard, President of the Association of Mayors of France
Hella Kibri-Romdhane is regional councilor for Île-de-France and municipal councilor in Massy (in Essonne), deputy Nupes and head of an organization of specialized educators. For her, there is clearly a desire for the rioters to shake up the representatives of the Republic and the institutions in general.
There is an urgent need to ensure that elected officials can exercise their mission in good conditions
Hella Kribi-Romdhane, municipal councilor
In total, the Ministry of the Interior counted ten police stations, ten gendarmerie barracks and six municipal police stations targeted overnight from Saturday to Sunday. Some 719 people were arrested, in particular for carrying objects likely to be used as weapons or projectiles.
A chasm between the political class and the inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods
For Julien Talpin, sociologist and researcher at the CNRS, specialist in working-class neighborhoods, mayors and local elected officials are targeted, because there is a sociological gap between the sociology of political personnel – including at the local level – and the majority of residents of popular neighborhoods. A striking discrepancy, according to the researcher, which makes identification with these elected officials complicated.
” It’s changing a bit since we see more local elected officials and mayors from more working-class backgrounds and descendants of immigrants, but still overall the figures are very clear, the political representatives belong to a social elite that does not necessarily have the same experiences as the inhabitants of these neighborhoods in terms of discrimination, unemployment, difficulties at school, etc. And, this creates a chasm that can manifest and materialize in violence », Explains the sociologist.
Visiting L’Haÿ-les-Roses to support Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne assured the mayors of France this Sunday that the government will not “ let no violence pass » and “ the greatest firmness » would be applied in the penalties. “ We won’t let anything go. We will stand with the mayors »said the head of government
Read alsoFrance: in Clichy-sous-Bois, the death of Nahel revives the memory of the riots of 2005
(and with AFP)