2023-07-06 13:00:13
The Minister of the Interior and Overseas, Gérald Darmanin, at Matignon, in Paris, June 30, 2023. JULIEN MUGUET FOR “THE WORLD”
A young man seriously injured by the firing of riot control ammunition in Mont-Saint-Martin (Meurthe-et-Moselle), another killed “probably after a Flash-Ball or LBD shot [lanceur de balles de défense] », according to the Marseille public prosecutor’s office: throughout the riots caused by the death of young Nahel M., 17, killed by police after refusing to comply on Tuesday June 27 in Nanterre, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, has dreaded the blunder and its consequences, a state of generalized conflagration.
But, in a country still struck by an eruption of unprecedented violence, dozens of besieged police stations, scenes of looting, public opinion has barely paid attention to the victims. And Gérald Darmanin, at the cost of an unprecedented mobilization of 45,000 police and gendarmes, was able to restore order by preventing the President of the Republic from resorting to the state of emergency that the Republicans and the National Rally. “He didn’t make a single quarterback foul, believes David Le Bars, head of the National Union of National Police Commissioners, neither in attitude nor in speech. »
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Didn’t he appear as a minister capable of moderation and empathy, he who described the images of the deadly Nanterre roadside check as“extremely shocking” as soon as the tragedy is known? However, Mr. Darmanin limited himself to drawing up an obvious statement: who has not found “shocking” this sequence filmed by a passer-by where the motorcyclist brigadier from Nanterre points his weapon a few centimeters from the young driver then shoots at point-blank range? By expressing compassion at the same time as “the need to respect the presumption of innocence” in favor of the policeman, the Minister of the Interior has ensured himself leeway to organize his response. After the condolences, the elbow room. “A firm state, he assures, taking back the criticisms of the left on his muscular management of repression, it also serves to avoid the militias. »
As a bad symbol, the death of two young men and the serious injuries inflicted on a third, in which the police are implicated, occurred a few days before Gérald Darmanin celebrated his three years of presence at Place Beauvau. Who would have predicted that he would hold on to such an exposed position for so long when boos and protests greeted the announcement of his appointment in July 2020 on charges of rape and abuse of weakness (he has since , obtained several dismissals and a classification without follow-up)? However, it ended up occupying all the space there, extending its perimeter to the overseas territories. Even the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024, of which he appears to be the great organizer, have been caught in his orbit.
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