2023-06-28 19:15:00
Driss Aït Youssef, doctor of public law and former elected representative of Hauts-de-Seine, analyzes the protest movement born after the death of a young man in Nanterre during a traffic check.
By Guillaume Mercier Nanterre and surrounding towns are preparing for a potential second night of violence. © ZAKARIA ABDELKAFI / AFP Published on 06/28/2023 at 7:15 p.m.
Following the death on Tuesday of a 17-year-old young man during a road check in Nanterre, clashes broke out in the evening between the police and demonstrators in several towns in Hauts-de-Seine. After a day marked by reactions from all sides and in particular from the executive, the question of the renewal of violence this evening arises. Driss Aït Youssef, doctor of public law and former elected representative of Hauts-de-Seine, answers questions from the Point on the possible futures of this protest movement.
Point : What to expect this Wednesday evening?
Driss Ait Youssef: What we see on social networks are calls for rallies at 11:30 p.m. tonight. We can legitimately think that the controversy and the political reactions that followed the events can give strength to a protest movement. This afternoon, there have already been two attempts to degrade schools, with fires starting.
Are we on the eve of a broader movement?
What is certain is that there are attempts at recovery. We also have the feeling, especially with the statements of the Prime Minister, that the policeman is condemned even before the end of the investigation. All these political reactions, including those of the President of the Republic and the President of the National Assembly, give legitimacy to popular emotion. However, a protest movement needs such legitimacy to take. I think this can indeed give rise to the beginning of contagion.
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What form can this movement take?
It’s hard to say. It can be a violent movement as well as a peaceful contagion, to denounce the real problems of the relationship between the police and the population.
What sociological explanation of the localization of events?
Nanterre is an atypical city, which is both popular and has means. The housing estates stand alongside the towers of the Société Générale. It is a city that lives with projects. It is therefore not so much the location as the triggering event itself that explains the violence.
What needs to evolve to avoid this kind of uprising?
Apart from some outlaws who by definition are not ready to collaborate with the police, a large part of the population is asking for more security, and more police. The structural problem of the police is that it is badly trained and badly framed, and therefore it is seen as a State police, which is not at the service of the population. There is no such problem with the gendarmes, who are better trained.
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