French mayors have urged citizens and elected representatives to convene at town halls nationwide on July 3 to express collective outrage at the riots that have wracked the nation.
The extraordinary plea for a “mobilisation of citizens to restore the principles of the republic” came after rioters attacked the home of the mayor of L’Haÿ-les-Roses suburb in Paris, Vincent Jeanbrun.
The perpetrators had announced their attack in advance, chillingly stating: “We know where you live. We are going to burn you alive.”
Thugs used a car to ram the property before setting the vehicle on fire, apparently in the hope that the blaze would spread to the house, Jeanbrun said in a statement.
Although the mayor was not at his home at the time, his wife and children, aged five and seven, were. They tried to flee but were chased and shot at with fireworks. The mayor’s wife suffered a broken shin that required surgery, and one of the youngsters was also hurt.
Mayor Jeanbrun called it, “a murder attempt of unspeakable cowardice”, adding: “A line has been crossed.”
Following the attack, the mayor, affiliated with the centre-Right Les Republicains party, has garnered extensive support from various political factions in France. Meanwhile, the public prosecutor’s office has initiated an investigation into the incident, treating it as attempted murder. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne described it as intolerable.
Cette nuit, un cap a été franchi dans l'horreur et l'ignominie. Mon domicile a été attaqué et ma famille victime d'une tentative d’assassinat.
Ma détermination à protéger et servir la République est plus grande que jamais. Je ne reculerai pas. #PasPourRien #Emeutes ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/9HW1eAFCXN
— Vincent Jeanbrun (@VincentJeanbrun) July 2, 2023
David Lisnard, the President of the Association of French Mayors (AMF), declared in a public letter that they “are not giving up” and have decided “with all the mayors of France to call for a rally in front of town halls”. The mayors want to “restore the republican order” and condemn all violence, he said.
In the five nights of rioting up to Sunday morning, the Ministry of the Interior reported some 5,000 vehicles had been torched, almost 1,000 buildings set on fire or otherwise damaged, alongside 250 attacks on police stations and gendarmeries, with more than 700 members of the security forces injured.
The Department of Education said 210 schools had also been targeted. As a result, on July 3, a week before term ends, a dozen schools will remain shut.
In La Verrière, in southern France, a kindergarten and primary school were almost completely destroyed by fire, while on Friday evening, an 80-year-old priest was set upon by a group of 12 youngsters. He was beaten unconscious and the assailants stole his mobile phone and wallet.
Suite Les Noés #LaVerriere 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/s1LOHoDC6o
— zyia (@zyia) June 29, 2023
Meanwhile, on Sunday night in the Paris suburb of Créteil, a large crowd of rioters attacked the court building with fireworks, leading to a serious blaze. Police attending the scene were then pelted with rocks.
However, despite these and many other disturbing incidents, the frequency of attacks seems to be decreasing. With some 45,000 police deployed across France and thousands of arrests being made in recent days, the French Government appears to be starting to gain some control of the situation. The interior ministry said police made 157 arrests nationwide on Sunday, down significantly from 719 arrests the day before.
The country-wide disturbances forced French President, Emmanuel Macron, to cancel a state visit to Germany. The president is due to hold a crisis meeting with his officials today to discuss the riots, and tomorrow he will receive the mayors of 220 cities that have suffered serious unrest.
The civil-war-like scenes beamed around the world have caused France significant reputational damage. It may also bring into question security issues regarding the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
There seems to be growing public resentment towards the rioters. In several French cities it was reported that groups of men were patrolling areas vigilante-style, seemingly intent on confronting the rioters.
Une cinquante de fascistes se baladent actuellement armées dans les rues de Lyon. Ils viennent de traverser le pont La Feuillée et se dirige sur la presqu’île. pic.twitter.com/TLT0PjhSj7
— Lyon Insurrection (@LyonInsurrectio) July 2, 2023
Some also see the creation of a Gofundme account for the police officer who shot the 17-year-old Naël in Nanterre, the trigger for the widespread violence, as further evidence of rising public anger. The US-based Gofundme is a for-profit crowdfunding platform.
The fund, named “Support for the family of the Nanterre police officer”, initially aimed to raise €50,000 but at the time of writing it was at more than €1 million.
Most political parties have condemned the rioting and damage caused, especially the more Right-leaning groups that have made crime and immigration central issues.
The hard-Left La France Insoumise party has been accused of excusing the rioters, with one representative tweeting: “I am not calling for serenity, I am calling for justice.”
Party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon pleaded for “the youngest” to spare schools, gyms and libraries, without mentioning other government buildings such as police stations.
The party seems to regard the unrest not as riots but as a general protest, an uprising, against the state’s perceived treatment of migrants, with some making reference to the French Revolution.
La France Insoumise finds much support in immigrant neighbourhoods in France and, according to polls, some 69 per cent of Muslims in the country voted for Mélenchon in the last general elections.
