Threats against elected officials are increasing. Guest of France Info this Thursday, Gérald Darmanin quantified at “534 facts” since last July “serious threats against the elected representatives of the Republic”. They would be directly linked to the rejection of health measures.
The Minister of the Interior added that there was “about 400 complaints, because not all elected officials file a complaint”. “We now have many arrests”, he continued.
Faced with these figures, a new “permanent cell” associating the Senate and the internal security forces has been created to ensure regular monitoring of facts and complaints. “We have around the President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, a very strong mobilization and whatever the political sides, whatever the quality of the elected, whether parliamentarian, mayor or municipal councilor. He is unacceptable that in a democracy we can send death threats or burn garages”, he lambasted.
On CNews last week, Gérald Darmanin indicated that three quarters of threats against elected officials come from antivax.
Noting that for the moment the threats were mainly on the internet, he nevertheless added “fear physical threats”. “This is why we are mobilizing considerable resources”, added Gérald Darmanin while a reinforcement of the protection of the homes and the permanence of the deputies had been put in place during the examination of the bill on the vaccination pass. The Minister also hopes “the means put in place by the courts to be able to condemn fairly quickly” the perpetrators.
Nine people were arrested, including eight, placed in police custody for “moral harassment” vis-à-vis elected officials, learned TF1 / LCI on Wednesday. These people come from a structural group, called VV, known for its anti-vaccine positions. In particular, they targeted a deputy and a senator, as well as a doctor. The facts in question took place between spring and last summer.