A pass of arms in broad daylight. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, and the leader of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, were torn apart this Sunday by statements interposed after the violence which punctuated the Parisian procession of May 1, during which a firefighter who tried to put out a fire was attacked.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced, in a message published on Twitter, “parasitic violence”, but considering that “the prefect (of Paris police, Didier Lallement) knew”, and that he was “unable to guarantee the right to demonstrate in peace”.
“The absence of words of support” for the police and firefighters “is particularly insulting”, replied Gérald Darmanin during a press briefing from the police headquarters, making particular reference to the attack on a firefighter by a woman, as he tried to put out a fire of pallets lit on the sidelines of the demonstration.
“I call on each and everyone, and in particular Mr. Mélenchon ad hominem, to condemn this violence and to remove any ambiguity that there may be with the ultra-left”, again tackled the Minister of the Interior, comparing the leader of LFI to an “arsonist firefighter” for having, according to him, “conscientiously, for five years, refused the police headquarters the means to better prevent these violent demonstrations”.
One of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s closest lieutenants, deputy Alexis Corbière, had expressed on Twitter “all (his) solidarity with this firefighter and his courageous colleagues”, considering that “whoever attacks him in this way is a coward and a dirty guy who plays into the hands of all those who want to stigmatize this beautiful May Day full of joy and hope”.
The attack also sparked political reactions from Christian Estrosi, close to Emmanuel Macron, according to whom “these thugs must be severely punished”, or from LR deputy Éric Ciotti, who denounced a “new surrealist aggression from the far left “By calling for” zero tolerance for anyone who touches a Republic uniform “.
The Parisian demonstration of May 1st was also enamelled throughout the course by clashes between thugs and police, damage to street furniture, burning of garbage cans and the ransacking of dozens of bank signs, real estate agencies and insurance companies.