Blows, threats, insults … mayors and deputies, whose attacks are increasing, expect greater protection from the authorities. Two city officials testified to RT France about this phenomenon, which has increased by 17% compared to 2019.
The testimonies of mayors victims of attacks multiply. In an interview with West France, Francis D’Hulst, deputy mayor of Portbail (Manche) explains that, on August 6, after being alerted by residents of his town, he went to the site of a wilderness campsite to report to campers installed between the pine forest and the dune that this practice is prohibited.
This same individual came up behind me and threw two punches on the back of my neck and on the top of the shoulder blade.
“There were three friends, about 25 years old, around a campfire. I declined my role as deputy mayor and invited them to dismantle the tent and leave. They refused, claiming that they did not own a vehicle. I insisted on the sensitivity of the environment. Among the three individuals, one then got excited and insulted me by threatening to set my car on fire, ”he explains. At RT France on August 18, he also relates: “This same individual came up behind me and threw me two punches in the back of my neck and on the top of the scapula.”
The mayor then goes to his car to warn the gendarmerie. “I immediately called the gendarmes, who arrived within a quarter of an hour after the incident. They stopped the individual and took him away. I lodged a complaint with the gendarmerie for this aggression. ”, He continues in the columns of the daily newspaper in the West.
The aggressor of Francis d’Hulst was imposed a call to the law. “It saddens me, because we have the feeling of being in a country of lawlessness,” he said indignantly. The file was closed. After this attack, Agnès Le Brun, vice-president and spokesperson for the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), deplored to AFP that “the criminal response is not there”, regretting that the perpetrators of attacks do not answer more quickly for their acts in front of justice and that the mayors are lonely in the face of “criminal acts”.
Pierre Emmanuel Bégny, former mayor of Saâcy-sur-Marne, also testified on RT France after being the victim of several attacks, including one on the evening of July 14: “We had a ball, I got out of the car and there a tipsy person began to insult the municipal police a little. He realizes that I am the mayor and at that moment he grabs me by the neck. He wants to punch me, he tries to knock me down, etc. It is undoubtedly an aggression lambda for the local elected officials. But which, when you receive it, is quite psychologically violent. ” Facts that, among other things, pushed him not to run for mayor of his town in 2020.
233 mayors or deputies physically attacked since January
According to figures from the Ministry of the Interior revealed by the Sunday newspaper on August 8, 233 mayors or deputies have been physically attacked since January. They were 198 at the same time last year, an increase of over 17%. A trend that is confirmed year by year: in 2019, 383 incidents of violence were recorded, against 361 in 2018.
Since the beginning of the summer, the attacks have been linked: on August 4, that of the mayor of Saint-Philippe-d’Aiguille (Gironde), on August 7 that of the mayor of Croisilles (Pas-de-Calais), pushed ashore after being called in for nighttime commotion. Hospitalized for minor injuries, he decided to file a complaint. In July, three minors were indicted for aggravated violence against the mayor of Miribel-les-Echelles (Isère). In August 2019, Jean-Mathieu Michel, mayor of Signes, was run over by a van he wanted to punish the occupants who were illegally throwing rubble.
After the aggression of the mayor of Saint-Philippe d’Aiguille, Prime Minister Jean Castex described the following day this type of violence as “inadmissible”.
This morning I phoned the mayor of Saint-Philippe d’Aiguille, assaulted last night, while he was simply doing his duty.
These facts and these acts of violence are unacceptable.
I assured him of my full support and the solidarity of the Nation.— Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) August 5, 2020
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Philippe Bas, President Les Républicains of the Senate Law Commission, wrote to the Prime Minister on August 6 to answer him: “I say to the Prime Minister that it is absolutely necessary to set up in the prefectures a cell which would provide advice and support. and support, including moral support, to mayors and their deputies in the event of aggression. Because the mayor is often tempted in these situations to get discouraged and give up. But we must not let anything go. “
In December 2019, the Commitment and Proximity law strengthened the legal protection of mayors, insufficient and “not effective” according to Philippe Laurent, mayor of Sceaux and secretary general of the Association of Mayors of France, interviewed by the JDD.
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