Two people were in police custody Monday afternoon for “violence with weapons in meetings, damage in meetings and contempt”, indicated the Versailles prosecutor’s office, contacted by AFP about this case. One of the two people in custody “is a minor, the other is an adult,” this source further specifies.
Sunday evening, according to the police source, the son of a deputy mayor of this small town located a few kilometers east of Versailles saw two people spraying a Celtic cross, swastikas and two inscriptions targeting the police and the anti-fascist movement on a wall of the home where he lives with his parents.
Hit and gassed by the two authors of the tags
While he opposed the damage, the man was beaten and gassed by the two authors of the tags, who then fled, continues this same source. The major attacker currently in police custody is listed as S for belonging to the ultra-right movement, details the police source, information that the Versailles public prosecutor’s office has not confirmed at this stage.
On BFMTV, the security assistant whose wall was tagged, Louis Le Pivain, described these tags as “irrelevant” and considered that they had “no link” with his status as an elected official. “At that age, (committing these acts) is hopeless,” he added, referring to the youth of the defendants.
Other tags spotted in Versailles
According to the television channel, a wall not far from Louis Le Pivain’s home was also covered with similar tags. Asked about the profile of those involved and the precise circumstances of the damage, the Versailles prosecutor’s office indicated early Monday afternoon that it “could not say more” at this stage.
Earlier on Sunday, Nazi and anti-Semitic tags had also been observed in Versailles on a fence belonging to the town hall, the same police source indicated the same day, without the discovery leading to any arrests.