Alexis Delafontaine / Photo credit: EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
About 2,000 people, including a dozen LFI and EELV deputies, marched on Saturday in Paris in memory of Adama Traoré, 24, who died seven years ago shortly after his arrest by the gendarmes. The rally had been banned by the police headquarters, which cited fears of public disorder after recent urban violence.
“You’d be a better Republican if you supported order”
During this demonstration, the police were strongly criticized and slogans “everyone hates the police” escaped the rally, angering the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, Tuesday at the National Assembly. “Do you find it normal to be among a crowd who shouts ‘Everyone hates the police’?”, he thundered, accusing La France insoumise “of spitting on the graves of the police”.
“You would be a better Republican if you supported order. The rule of law and the people who today defend it and risk their lives every day,” he added.
“Participating in a prohibited demonstration is an offence”
The Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, replied that he found it “scandalous” that the deputies did not leave the demonstration when the police were criticized. “You always have the possibility of addressing the public prosecutor an article 40, because indeed, participating in a prohibited demonstration is an offence”, he underlined.
“You are the minister of police violence”
Insignificant attacks for the rebellious Thomas Portes who accuses Gérald Darmanin of not holding his troops. “You are not the Minister of the Interior, you are the Minister of police violence. We will always be alongside those who mobilize against police violence and for the Republic,” he said.
This debate is not over since Gérald Darmanin will be heard next week by the deputies on the subject of police violence.