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Nicolas Zaugra
Published on
Nov. 2 2024 at 5:50 p.m
; updated Nov 2, 2024 at 5:55 p.m.
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Two evenings of violence, a neighborhood under tension, police reinforcements mobilized all weekend, elected officials divided on the response to provide: the town of Rilleux-la-Pape (Rhône) in the metropolis of Lyon is once again shaken by urban violence since Halloween night.
We take stock of the situation in the town already affected by repeated urban violence.
- The first violence on Halloween night
Three people were arrested Thursday evening, Halloween celebration, after car fires in Rilleux-la-Pape, we learned from the Rhône prefecture.
In a video posted on social networks, people with their faces hidden by hoods were walking on a city street near at least three cars and burning trash cans.
According to the commune of Rilleux, the suspects arrested are all minors aged 13 to 17 “whose sole motivation was to have fun”.
- New violence Friday evening, TCL buses set on fire
The tension rose a notch during the night of Friday November 1 to Saturday in the same Velette district of Rilleux-la-Pape. Around 9 p.m., a gang of around twenty individuals targeted two urban buses from the TCL network on Avenue du Général Leclerc. They blocked the bus with containers of glass bottles before setting fire to the vehicles.
The bus fires caused large plumes of smoke in front of an apartment building. Panicked residents evacuated their homes for fear that the fire would spread to the building.
Our drivers, with exemplary professionalism, immediately secured the passengers by sheltering them before leaving the vehicles. Around ten users were on board. The attackers, after stopping the two buses, released an flammable product inside before setting them on fire, leaving our agents in shock. These unacceptable acts call for a firm response, and we expect their perpetrators to be quickly brought to justice.
The violent individuals also targeted the police with projectile throwing. One of them suffered minor facial injuries and was taken to hospital. The police did not make any arrests for the incidents on Friday evening.
- CRS reinforcements sent to Rilleux all weekend
The Rhône prefecture, which condemned the violence, announced sending police reinforcements all weekend in the neighborhood. Around sixty police officers, CRS, police officers from the anti-crime brigade and the canine brigade will be deployed to avoid new incidents.
“Calm has returned,” said Juliette Bossart-Trignat, delegated prefect for the defense and security of the Rhône, during a briefing with the press.
“Investigations are underway, in order to find the perpetrators so that they can assume their responsibility before the courts. I hope that the use of the video surveillance tapes will be decisive and useful (…) “The investigations will obviously clarify the link with the events of the previous night”.
- The mayor wants to cut municipal aid and evict families from HLM
Alexandre Vincendet, Horizons mayor of Rilleux-la-Pape, responded strongly to the events by targeting the families of the minors arrested and involved.
“Parents must assume their responsibility, otherwise expulsion from social housing and end of municipal aid,” he said.
“It was not young people who set fire to these buses, but thugs, delinquents. The vast majority of young people from Rillieux-la-Pape want to get out of this and take their full place in the Republic,” added the former MP.
- The LFI deputy calls for “dialogue” to “understand the causes of tensions”
Abdelkader Lahmar, LFI deputy for the constituency, calls for “dialogue” to “understand the causes of tensions”.
“I condemn the acts of violence which affected Rillieux-la-Pape. Yesterday evening, I was in the Velette district to talk with residents and the municipal police. Our priority is to restore serenity and security for all (…) I am convinced that the solution will come from dialogue. This is why I am planning a meeting with the main stakeholders in the neighborhood to understand the causes of these tensions and work together on concrete solutions,” according to the elected official La France insoumise.
- Buses diverted from the neighborhood until November 11
The president of Sytral Bruno Bernard also announced that buses will no longer cross the district.
“As a precaution, a diversion is in place in the area until November 11 inclusive to guarantee everyone’s safety.”
Violence in Givors and Saint-Fons
Three people were arrested Friday evening after urban violence in Saint-Fons, in the suburbs of Lyon, where similar incidents also took place in Rillieux-la-Pape, we learned from a police source.
This is a “series of incidents perhaps linked to the date of Halloween”, celebrated Thursday evening, commented the Rhône delegated prefect for security.
In Saint-Fons, located south of Lyon, at the end of the day on Friday, a group of around thirty people set cars and trash cans on fire, and fired fireworks mortars. The police arrived on place were targeted by projectiles and had to use tear gas.
Three people were arrested and taken into custody after these incidents, according to the police source.
Similar incidents broke out in Givors in the metropolis of Lyon on Thursday evening for Halloween with trash cans and at least one car set on fire and clashes between police and violent individuals. Two people were arrested in Givors.
With AFP
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