In Romans-sur-Isère, from the Monnaie district to the rest of the city, a journey between two worlds, between two Frances

2023-12-05 06:45:09

It’s the story of a group of young boys that no one can control, in the sad streets of a neighborhood as big as a town. Neither parents nor older brothers. Neither the police, nor the town hall, nor the associations. The story of an old, deep, announced ghettoization of a handful of buildings where 4,000 inhabitants live. The story of a drift and a renunciation. Until the tragedy.

The Cité de la Monnaie, in Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme), burst into the national public debate after the announcement of the indictment of nine young men, six adults and three minors, from the neighborhood, suspected of having participated in an extremely violent brawl at the end of a popular ball in Crépol, a neighboring village, during which Thomas, a 16-year-old high school student, was stabbed to death.

Justice will have to determine the responsibilities of each person and say whether the action was premeditated or not. If words with racist connotations were used, as reported by nine witnesses (out of more than a hundred heard). If the attackers acted “in an organized gang”as mentioned by the prosecution.

But, for part of local opinion, well beyond the far right, these questions have already been resolved because of the execrable reputation of the city. There is no doubt about the band effect. Like the use of a form of ultraviolence. No one in the department was really surprised when the name of the district appeared, as La Monnaie has been the center of difficulties and violence for a long time. “My 16-year-old son was friends with Thomas at rugby. He told me: “Dad, they’re always the same.”testifies David Guillon, coach at the rugby club where Thomas played, also elected environmentalist in the town and head of a specialized prevention service.

Tribute from the Rugby-club-Romanais-Péageois, in which Thomas played, a 16-year-old high school student killed by a stab wound on November 19. In Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme), December 2, 2023. SAMUEL GRATACAP FOR “THE WORLD”

The association manager, committed to housing the poorest, does not hide his emotion and a bit of fear. “I will remain haunted all my life by this image of the 16-year-old kids around Thomas’ coffinhe continues. The integration did not take place. You don’t have to be called Bourdieu to know that, when you concentrate the world’s misery in the same place, you create a difficult, unmanageable situation. Until then, when it burned, it stayed at the Mint. The tragedy of Crépol shows that no one is safe from a form of violence so intense that, in the first minutes of the confrontation, many young people believed it was a terrorist attack. »

In The Dauphiné liberated, the regional daily, the articles have followed one another and been similar for months and, in reality, for years, about the Mint. Almost always the same scenario. The theft of a vehicle, its fire, then the stoning by young men of the police officers, even firefighters, who intervene. A terrible litany. In the last six months alone, there have been seven episodes of urban violence, most often caused by around fifteen hooded individuals. November 12. October 28. October 10. October 1st. September 29. August 29. August 24.

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