Elisabeth Borne called on Wednesday for “restraint and decency” after the death of young Thomas on the sidelines of a village ball in Crépol (Drôme), a drama about which the far right and part of the right are accused of political exploitation.
This violence, in which eight people were also injured, “is serious and unacceptable”, declared the Prime Minister in the Senate, during the questions to the government (QAG) session. But the white march organized on Wednesday in Romans-sur-Isère in tribute to Thomas, 16, “calls for restraint and decency”. “Using this tragedy to play on fears is a lack of dignity and respect for the victims,” she added.
Those guilty of the tragedy “will be very severely condemned”
Nine suspects, suspected of having arrived armed at the village festival, were arrested on Tuesday and placed in police custody. The one who was “formally designated” as the perpetrator of the fatal stabbing lives in “the center” of Romans-sur-Isère and “not the Monnaie district”, one of the city’s housing estates, according to the Valence prosecutor, Laurent from Caigny. As soon as the facts were known, the far right and part of the right multiplied tweets and statements establishing a link between the tragedy and immigration.
They spoke of “anti-white racism”, “everyday jihad” or even, according to Marine Le Pen, “an organized attack, emanating from a certain number of criminogenic suburbs in which there are armed militias carrying out raids. “. The head of the Republicans, Éric Ciotti, declared “a killing committed by scum”. In the report of the Council of Ministers, government spokesperson Olivier Véran deplored this “political controversy”. He affirmed that those guilty of the Crépol tragedy “will be very severely condemned”.
“The perpetrators will be punished commensurate with their crime,” Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti told the senators. Several thousand people marched in silence in Romans-sur-Isère behind large banners “Thomas, we love you”, “Justice for Thomas”. The organizers of the march had called on Facebook for an “apolitical” gathering out of respect for the family.