In the three main commercial arteries of downtown Montpellier, several stores were smashed and looted last night, on the sidelines of a banned rally after the death of young Nahel, killed by a policeman in Nanterre. This morning, faced with the damage, traders fear the hours to come. 12 people were arrested (including 2 in Béziers where garbage cans and cars burned).
Rue de la Loge, Grand Rue Jean Moulin, boulevard du Jeu de Paume: this morning, in the three main arteries of downtown Montpellier, traders are seeing the damage, “stunned“according to Odette Daudé, the president of the Ecusson merchants association. She toured the shops and several of them were vandalized, even looted, like the Swarovski and Orange brands, completely robbed , or The North Face.The latter, already degraded during the demonstrations against the pension reform, no longer has insurance.
In all, five businesses were looted. Many others have been demolished. These acts of violence were committed on the sidelines of a parade announced around 8 p.m. Place de la Comédie. Our journalist Alexandre Grellier sent us this photo of the telephone operator’s store after it was ransacked.
The Orange store on Grand Rue Jean Moulin was looted during the riots of June 30 after Nahel’s death. • © Alexandre Grellier, France 3 Occitanie
A rally banned by the prefecture, but neither this decree, nor the large police deployment, deterred the protesters, decided to make their anger heard after the death of Nahel, 17, killed by a policeman in Nanterre. Montpellier, like Nîmes and many cities in France, has not escaped the riots that have shaken the country since Tuesday.
We fear the reaction of customers. It’s Saturday, but we can’t even talk about the first sales weekend anymore. We just wonder how we are going to preserve our property, our premises, our merchandise.
Odette Daudé, president of the Ecusson merchants association
The representative of downtown merchants also mentioned the same difficulty for businesses in other districts. The prefecture confirms that damage has indeed also been committed:
Le Petit-Bard, the Cévennes district, avenue de Lodève and the Cité Astruc were also affected by fires and burglaries of shops such as a pharmacy, the tobacco shop in the Saint-Paul shopping centre, an ATM in the Agricultural credit.
Hérault prefecture
At the start of the morning, Odette Daudé said she was ready “to close if necessary. In some cities, it degenerated from yesterday afternoon“. But after joining the prefecture, the opening is maintained, in the absence of forecasts for the hours and the evening to come. Impossible indeed at this time to anticipate anything.
Store vandalized in Montpellier during the riots of June 30, 2023 after the death of Nahel in Nanterre. • © Alexandre Grellier, France 3 Occitanie
On the front of the Orange store, Grand Rue Jean Moulin, covered because its window was broken, a message was posted for the attention of customers, indicating that the store remained “closed until further notice“.
Message from the Orange store in Montpellier, looted during the riots of June 30, 2023. • © Alexandre Grellier, France 3 Occitanie
For his part, Michaël Delafosse, the mayor and president of Montpellier Métropole, went there to assess the extent of the damage. At the microphone of our colleagues from Midi Libre, who relay this interview on Twitter, he evokes “arrests made in flagrante delicto by the municipal police“. According to the Hérault prefecture, 12 people were taken into police custody (12 people were arrested (including 2 in Béziers where garbage cans and cars were burned). According to our information, a police officer was injured in the leg, hit by mortar fire.In all, three police officers suffered injuries.
In a press release, Michaël Delafosse condemns these abuses as being “a dangerous standoff that will bring no justice” :
I condemn in the strongest terms the violence of last night which undermined the safety of people and property, depriving traders and their employees of their working tools, degrading public services such as La Poste de la Mosson and the network. of transport, terrorizing the inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods.
Michaël Delafosse, mayor (PS) and president of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole
The Mosson district police office also came under heavy mortar fire. At the start of the morning this Saturday, the TAM, Montpellier’s bus and tram company, still announced disruptions on certain lines, in particular line 19: “Due to an act of vandalism, Bus line 19 does not serve part of the North sector“, specified the company on its Twitter feed.
At the end of the morning, all traffic was nevertheless restored. As in other cities in France, in accordance with government instructions, the TAM had interrupted its service at the start of the evening and until this morning.
#Death #Nahel #Montpellier #merchants #stunned #looting #night #people #police #custody
