The exchanges between the parliamentarians of the left and Gérald Darmanin, accused of “minister of the truncheon”, turned into a pass of arms on Wednesday in the National Assembly and the Senate, where the latter again attributed to the “ultra-left “responsibility for the violence during the demonstrations. The Minister of the Interior was invited to explain himself to the deputies, then the senators of the Law Commission, on the use of force by the police and the gendarmes during the demonstrations against the pension reform or in Sainte- Soline in the Deux-Sèvres.
Darmanin projected images of violence “against the police”
Figures on seized weapons, photos of attacks on public buildings, videos of police officers taken to task: the minister began his hearings with a long presentation, projecting several slides. So much evidence of “extreme violence against the police”, he said, citing the examples of recent clashes in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux or Lorient.
It’s “a ‘Paris-Match’ hearing, the weight of words, the shock of photos”, denounced the ecologist deputy Benjamin Lucas, mocking “a nice McKinsey-style PowerPoint”, the consulting firm at the heart of several investigations concerning Emmanuel Macron’s presidential campaigns. The heaviest charge came from the Insoumis Thomas Portes who described Gérald Darmanin as “minister of the truncheon”. “Will it take a new Malik Oussekine to finally make you come to your senses?”, he wondered, in reference to this young man who died under the blows of police on a motorcycle in 1986.
“Very strong mobilization of the ultra-left”
Gérald Darmanin also revealed notes from territorial intelligence evoking a “very strong mobilization of the ultra-left” who had come “to infiltrate the social movement and take over its leadership”. “If I was provocative, I would say they wanted to take (him) hostage,” he said. “We are trying to break with a form of cowardice or complacency that there was with the ultra-left,” he later told the Senate.
Since March 16 and the start of tensions in the demonstrations after the use of 49.3 to have the pension reform adopted, 1,851 people have been arrested, 299 attacks against public institutions (prefectures, town halls, etc.) and 132 attacks on offices. parliamentarians have been identified, he listed. A total of 2,500 street fires, 58 vehicles and 13 burned buildings were also counted.
A petition on the dissolution of the Brav-M classified
These hearings came as the Assembly’s Law Commission filed a petition on Wednesday, signed by nearly 264,000 people, for the dissolution of the Brav-M, a motorcycle police brigade criticized for its use of violence in demonstrations. . In addition, the Council of State refused Wednesday to impose on the Ministry of the Interior to act to make effective the obligation imposed on the police to carry their identification number in intervention (RIO).
Unsurprisingly, Gérald Darmanin once again gave his support to the police, despite the criticisms formulated by the Defender of Rights, the Council of Europe or the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders. . “The police and gendarmes only respond to people who are violent (…)”, declared Gérald Darmanin. In Sainte-Soline, 47 gendarmes were injured, according to the authorities. Organizers said 200 protesters were injured, 40 of them seriously. One of them was still Tuesday between life and death.
LDH controversy
PS Senator Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie criticized Gérald Darmanin for his recent statements on “intellectual terrorism from the far left”. “You shouldn’t use the term terrorism in a hasty way,” she said. “You are not the word police,” retorted Gérald Darmanin. Rather than “throwing” police and gendarmes to the dogs, “spend a day with the Brav-M”, he said again.
In response to an intervention by Senator LR François Bonhomme, who called for “stop funding associations that seriously challenge the state”, the minister said about the League of Human Rights (LDH), that “the subsidy given by the state” “is worth watching[e] within the framework of the actions that have been carried out”.
“Mr. Darmanin, ‘the actions that have been carried out’ by the LDH for more than 120 years are the defense of the rights and freedoms of all, whether you like it,” replied the LDH in a tweet. This time, you are crossing the Rubicon and leaving the republican space for good”, scolded the ecologist deputy Aurélien Taché. Sandrine Rousseau (EELV) shared on Twitter her “unwavering support” for the association “and for his work”.