Faced with this “gratuitous and endemic violence”, “the security response is essential”, said the minister, who also calls for a “judicial response” that is “up to par”.
Bruno Retailleau in Paris, December 23, 2024. (POOL / JULIEN DE ROSA)
The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, deplored the security situation on New Year's Eve on Wednesday, January 1, when nearly 1,000 vehicles were set on fire and more than 400 people arrested. He denounced the toll as “too heavy”, “the product of wildness”.
“We do not have the right to settle for this annual count
always too heavy”, writes the minister in a press release. “This violence is the product of wildness”, he adds, denouncing
“cowards, thugs who attack the property of often modest French people
who do not have the means to protect their vehicles in private parking lots.
There were a total of “984 vehicles set on fire”, “420 arrests” and “310 police custody”, particularly after
firework mortar shots targeting the police
explains the minister.
90,000 police and gendarmes mobilized
“More than 90,000 police officers and gendarmes” were mobilized for this New Year's Eve night where “numerous uses of mortars were noted”, deplores the minister, citing in particular the case of
a two-year-old child injured in the face by a mortar shot
in Lyon.
Faced with this “gratuitous and endemic violence”, “the security response is essential” but “cannot be sufficient”, he continues, calling for
a “judicial response” that is “up to par”.
“On this point, I welcome the first statements from the Keeper of the Seals” and former Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, writes Bruno Retailleau. “With Gérald Darmanin, today we have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to finally begin, together, the battle against impunity,” he said again.
Last year, 380 arrests and 745 vehicles burned were counted during the night of December 31 to January 1.
Related News :