Legislative: Lyon fears violence this Sunday, the mayor asks for reinforcements

And “risk of civil war” : the warning in the event of victory of “the extremes”, France Insoumise or the National Rally, in the early legislative elections is signed by Emmanuel Macron. A very high score for the RN in the first round this Sunday, June 30, makes the authorities fear an outbreak of violence and clashes as soon as the results are announced.

In Lyon, a city where the RN remains contained but where the ultra-left and the ultra-right are very active, local authorities fear violence on the sidelines of anti-RN demonstrations. Exactly one year after the violent riots sparked in response to the death of Nahel, a young man killed by police shooting.

Risks of “extremely violent tensions” warns Darmanin

“Notes from the intelligence services indicate, depending on the nature of the results and also depending on the location, risks of disturbances to public order. From both the ultra-left and the ultra-right, for different reasons,” worried Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, in an interview with Parisian.

“It is possible that there will be extremely violent tensions (on election night),” the minister also declared on RTL, and promised that his ministry would do everything to maintain order. A meeting was organized this Wednesday with the prefects and representatives of intelligence, the national police and the gendarmerie.

The mayor of Lyon requests police reinforcements

The environmentalist mayor of Lyon Grégory Doucet, for his part, requested police reinforcementsIn a speech to the city council on Thursday, he asked for “increased support from the national police forces to the Minister of the Interior” after his public comments on a risk of violence.

He sent a letter to Gérald Darmanin. “It is imperative to strengthen our system in order to guarantee the maintenance of public order”, he writes, in particular for “the protection of Lyon businesses, which are exposed to the risk of damage”. Grégory Doucet claims to “observe an increase in activities within radical political groups” in particular the ultra-right.

Municipal police officers will be mobilized to protect public buildings and help guarantee the smooth running of the elections. It will be mobilized for the protection of elections, and therefore of our democracy, as well as the protection of public buildings, including the 306 polling stations, the nine district town halls, City Hall and municipal police stations.

“Nothing must hinder democracy in our city,” warned the EELV mayor. He also warned this week: “The RN’s victory risks unleashing violence in the country.”

Pierre Olivier warns traders

The LR mayor of the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, Pierre Oliver, sent a letter to the traders in his district to invite them to “leave as little stock as possible in (their) stores”, but also “to have empty checkouts, and to install wooden plywood on (their) windows in order to avoid damage which is likely to be numerous”.

The councilor indicates that he “asked the mayor of Lyon to mobilize the municipal police to protect our sector as a priority”.

Already violence in the presidential election

Demonstrations in 2022 on the evening of the first round of the presidential election after Marine Le Pen qualified for the second round had already given rise to violence in Lyon in April.

After the dissolution of the National Assembly, clashes also broke out on several occasions on the sidelines of anti-RN demonstrations.

A risk of violence between ultra-left and ultra-right?

“I think the RN can be dangerous, I think LFI can be dangerous. I think there may be trouble, we can imagine that the ultra-left would respond to a National Rally election, moreover, we are preparing for it”also warned Gérald Darmanin.

The ultra-left is particularly established in Lyon and has been questioned on numerous occasions, such as during extreme violence on May 1, 2023, or during the mobilization against pensions and on the sidelines of the riots last summer.

The authorities are also closely monitoring the possible violent mobilization of the ultra-right. The dissolution of the Remparts, which are very active in Old Lyon, could motivate certain members to take action.

Friday June 14, around forty men, dressed in black, hooded or masked, wandered around Lyon in Vieux-Lyon and Croix-Rousse threatening passersby and giving Nazi salutes. Some also said: “We’re fucking Nazis!” Islam outside Europe! “.

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