The phenomenon is not new but it has taken, since the end of confinement, on May 11, an unprecedented scale. On social networks and in the local press, the facts relating to mortar fire and fireworks – used outside any professional framework, often against the police or firefighters – have multiplied in recent weeks, mainly in large metropolises and neighboring towns.
Monday July 27, in Miribel-les-Echelles (Isère), the mayor of the city, Williams Dufour, was burned by fireworks held by a young person whom the elected representative was trying to control. The councilor was given seven days of temporary incapacity for work (ITT). A few days earlier, in the Grand-Parc district in Bordeaux, three police officers from the Anti-Crime Brigade (BAC), holed up in their vehicle, came under fire from “fireworks”, also called “candles”. These are plastic, cardboard or metal tubes with which fireworks “bombs” are launched to explode, in principle, several tens of meters in the sky. Three individuals were arrested in this case. In the north of Paris and in the Lyon metropolis, the police were also targeted by heavy gunfire on the nights of July 13, 14 and 15, some officials speaking of “Ambush”.
“Until now, these events have been one-off. It happened on December 31st, July 14th or some football game nights. Now it’s regular ”, explains a police officer assigned to a city of Seine-Saint-Denis. “Mortar fire is a symbol, a way of attacking those who represent order”, analysis Laurent Jeanne, mayor various right of Champigny-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne). On the night of April 22 to 23, a city police station, located in the heart of the Bois-l’Abbé district, was the target of a hail of fireworks for several minutes, forcing officials to leave the places in a hurry.
“A phenomenon of emulation”
For these young people, on average aged 13 to 25, sometimes known to the police for petty crime, it is also a game, in the order of competition. “There is a phenomenon of emulation: it is who will blow up the biggest machine”, details Cédric Van Styvendael, the socialist mayor of Villeurbanne (Rhône), whose town is strongly affected by the practice. “The image is of great importance, adds Fiona Lazaar, deputy La République en Marche (LRM) for Val-d’Oise, who has observed the increase in the phenomenon in Argenteuil. The videos are running on social networks. They are looking for the spectacular side. “
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