A few days before the first round of legislative elections, a new criminal act bears witness to a release of racist and homophobic violence.
Alone among the houses, the L’Arto bakery in Montfavet seems simply closed with its curtains drawn. But as you approach, the smell of burning and the windows upstairs wide open onto rooms completely black with soot leave no doubt: the establishment has been ravaged by flames.
A fire that, according to the first elements of the investigation, would be deliberate. Seven different fires were noted, which would demonstrate the criminal origin of the fire. But above all, racist and homophobic inscriptions were discovered on the ground floor, such as “nègre” and “PD” associated with “dépuis”. These were directly aimed at the apprentice of the establishment, a young man of Ivorian origin. The Avignon prosecutor’s office, solicited by The Marseillaise, confirms that the racist circumstance is retained. A ” incomprehensible situation » for Dounya, mother of three children attending the Camille-Claudel school and who lives near Lake Saint-Chamand. She doesn’t have no increase in racist acts observed » in the sector, even if she observes “ a certain freedom of speech around the extreme right “. Unaware of the fire, Philippe Brouard, director for 30 years of the music school located opposite the Arto, describes the neighborhood as “ not really agitated “. Asked about a possible link between the rise of the extreme right and the fire, he considers it possible without noting a real increase in violence in recent weeks.
The left reacts
This xenophobic act did not fail to provoke a reaction from the political sphere. On Facebook, the departmental secretary of the PCF condemned in particular ” the latent racism of some [qui] is expressed all the more easily as the political situation places the RN at the gates of power “. The candidate for the legislative elections in 1time constituency (Avignon, Le Pontet, Morières) Raphaël Arnault (LFI) proclaims on racists burned a bakery ” before asking if ” these are the people to whom we would like to entrust power ».
