While a rave party took place during the night from Saturday to Sunday, near Rennes, in Ille-et-Vilaine, fifteen participants were slightly injured during clashes with travelers.
Fifteen participants in an illegal rave party south of Rennes were slightly injured, eight of whom were taken to hospital during the night from Saturday to Sunday, during “clashes” with “residents”, notably travelers living right next door, we learned from the firefighters and the prefecture.
Arriving Friday evening, around 3,000 people took part in a rave party in an abandoned warehouse in Brie (Ille-et-Vilaine), located on the edge of the Rennes-Angers dual carriageway, despite a prefectural ban, indicates the prefecture.
“During the night, clashes broke out between ravers and local residents, requiring a strong mobilization of state services,” explains the press release.
According to fire captain Julien Valdenaire, commander of rescue operations, the first altercations between revelers and a group of travelers living next to the hangar broke out in the early evening. “It degenerated” during the night and “the gendarmes intervened to prevent it from causing numerous victims,” he told AFP.
He cited “throws of projectiles” and “rocks,” as well as the use of “baseball bats.” Several vehicles were damaged, including broken windshields, participants explained.
In total, 15 people were slightly injured “including 8 taken to hospital”, the prefecture said at the end of the day.
200 state agents mobilized
The new prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine, Amaury de Saint-Quentin, “strongly condemned all the acts of violence which occurred during the night, and reminds all parties of their responsibility”.
Up to 120 firefighters and around 80 gendarmes were mobilized overnight. An advanced medical post was set up near the scene to care for the injured.
The organizers stopped the music around 1 a.m., putting an end to the rave. Calm returned at dawn and the ravers gradually left the site during the day.
Thomas, 22, was sleeping in his tent set up in the parking lot in front of the hangar when he was woken up in the middle of the night.
“They stoned us to make us leave the hangar, there was a projectile, like a Molotov cocktail, which passed over my head,” he told AFP.
The organizers of the rave then intervened on the microphone to stop the music, adds Malou, 22 years old. “They blocked the hangar to confine us inside. Those who were outside were stoned.” According to Pierre, 25, “the gypsies had warned the organizers in advance, telling them: 'if you are still there on Saturday evening, we will destroy everything'”.
Travelers wanted to “protect their children”
According to a man identifying himself as a member of the Travelers and living near the hangar, “around ten” people from his community intervened “to protect our children”.
“We found a syringe in our garden, it’s not just because of the music,” he explained to AFP on condition of anonymity.
In a press release released early in the evening, the prefecture indicated that the police had issued several fines, including 479 fines for participation in a prohibited demonstration and 34 misdemeanor fixed fines (AFD) for possession of drugs.
These checks also “led to two arrests followed by police custody measures”, specifies the prefecture. In addition, the sound equipment used for the rave was seized.
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