Public buildings damaged, police vehicles targeted, private cars burned. Since Saturday evening, urban violence has broken out in the sensitive Saugeraies district of Mâcon.
Events which would have occurred “against a backdrop of drug trafficking”, according to the prefecture of Saône-et-Loire. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced the arrival of reinforcements on Sunday to restore calm. We take stock.
When did the violence break out?
“It was farting non-stop, non-stop, non-stop,” a resident told our colleagues from France 3. This same witness assures that there were “only kids” who were “no more than 16 years old.” » among the rioters. The violence started on the night of Saturday January 18 to Sunday January 19 in the popular Saugeraies district of Mâcon.
According to the city's mayor, three municipal buildings were ransacked, including a home welcoming children and adolescents. “These are buildings which serve the population of this district,” lamented Jean-Patrick Courtois to our colleagues from France 3 Bourgogne.
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-Three police cars were damaged and seven vehicles were set on fire, including five utility vehicles from the Leclerc store, specifies The Saône-et-Loire Journal. Firefighters also had to deal with numerous trash fires overnight. Calm would have returned around 5 a.m. this Sunday morning.
Why this violence in this neighborhood?
At this time, the motive for these acts of vandalism is not clearly established. But the prefect and the mayor do not hesitate to mention urban violence “against a backdrop of drug trafficking”, according to the prefecture, which deployed an operational center during the night.
A person was reportedly arrested, although we do not know under what circumstances. This 19-year-old man is still in police custody. According to the mayor, traffickers “demanded premises to do their business peacefully”, according to The Saône-et-Loire Journal. The public prosecutor's office opened a blatant investigation into the charges of “damage and destruction of property by fire in an organized gang, criminal association with a view to committing this crime, violence against persons holding public authority with weapons and participation in a armed gathering”.
What reinforcements deployed on site?
The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, announced on Sunday BFMTV the sending of “additional law enforcement officers” to Mâcon. “We are going to give the prefect additional forces,” said the minister. “But that won’t be enough. We will have to take legal action,” warns Bruno Retailleau.
The prefect of Saône-et-Loire issued several decrees from Sunday 8 a.m. to Tuesday 11 p.m. for “the ban on the detention and transport of weapons, all categories combined, ammunition and objects that could constitute a weapon concerning communes of Mâcon, Sancé and Charnay”.
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