“They said we’re going to break the PD this evening”: violent attack in front of a gay friendly bar in Nîmes

His face is still blistered, marked by the blows, two days after the attack. Philippe Di Lenardo, manager of the Le Pride bar, in the city center of Nîmes, was the victim, with two other people, of a very violent attack during the night from Friday to Saturday. An attack of a deliberately homophobic nature according to the stories reported to Free Midday by the victims.

The events happened around 1 a.m. “We were in the process of closing the establishment, says Philippe Di Lenardo. People came towards the entrance of the bar and started shouting homophobic remarks.”. In the bar, there are still a handful of them getting ready to leave. “They kicked the window, explains Rémi. As they typed, they said 'We're going to break some PD tonight.' The boss, Lionel and I went out to see.”

There, everything happens very quickly. Punches rain down. Lionel, a regular visitor, was hit in the ear. “Since then, it hasn’t stopped buzzing,” he explains. Philippe, the boss, tries to protect his friends. “I was hit. I didn't understand what was happening. I tried to dodge but I didn't succeed. My face was bloody.” According to testimonies, the attackers seized nearby construction site barriers and sent them, one against the establishment, the other in the direction of Rémi, injured in the knee. One of the attackers also allegedly took out a bladed weapon.

Arrests, police custody and COPJ

Called, the police intervened, and managed to arrest, not without difficulty according to testimonies, the alleged attackers. “They must have knocked it down,” says Sébastien, associate of Philippe Di Lenardo, also present on Saturday, who emphasizes that several witnesses witnessed the scene.

The three victims will go to the CHU on their own. “The firefighters had not been called,” they explain. Summary: “six stitches for me, a knee brace for the second, hearing problems for the third”, explains Philippe Di Lenardo. Several days of ITT are granted. The three victims will file a complaint during the day on Saturday.

Sentiment d’abandon

According to the manager of Pride, this is not the first time that homophobic insults have been uttered towards his bar, which has been open for a year and a half. “There are sometimes people who pass by, who say that it’s a “queer bar”, a lady who systematically puts a mask on her face when she passes our house. As if she was going to catch a disease. We also removed shit from the window. On the other hand, we had not experienced an attack of such violence. relates Philippe Di Lenardo, bitter. Beyond the incomprehension of such hatred Philippe Di Lenardo expresses a feeling of abandonment: “What shocks me is that since Friday, we have had no call from the town hall of Nîmes, while we have had support from other political leaders, associations… And then we learned that the two people arrested were released”

These two people, aged around twenty, were actually released after their custody but with a COPJ (summons by a judicial police officer). They will therefore be sent back to court in several months. However, according to our information, the qualification of homophobic attack, which is an aggravating circumstance, would not, at this stage, be accepted by the prosecution.