“We must not get used to violence”, headlines the press release from Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, taking stock of the night of New Year's Eve 2024, during which “more than 90,000 police and gendarmes were mobilized on the national territory,” he specifies from the outset.
“Many uses of mortars”
“The results of the night of December 31 show 984 vehicles burned,” explains the document, emphasizing “numerous uses of mortars [qui] were noted by the services.” And to cite as examples this two-year-old child injured in Lyon who “risks permanent disability”, but also a man transported “in absolute emergency” to Thonon-les-Bains or even an apartment fire in Lormont.
420 arrests and 310 police custody
“In several metropolitan areas, 420 arrests were made following mortar fire directly targeting internal security forces. 310 police custody cases were recorded,” lists the press release.
Bruno Retailleau regrets an “annual count, always too heavy”, evokes “a savagery embodied by cowards, thugs who attack the property of often modest French people, who do not have the means to protect their vehicles in parking lots private”. He also believes that “the judicial response must also be up to par, because real prevention is real sanctions”.
