Sunday morning, around 4:30 a.m., two men were violently attacked in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, as they returned from a party. “A man smashed our heads, our faces and our hands which were trying to protect them,” one of the victims said on the social networks, denouncing the homophobic nature of this attack. The two men were attacked while they were kissing, said the Stop Homophobia association who accompanies them.
The photos shared on X show the violence of the blows, particularly on the face of one of the men. He indicated in his account that he had head and facial trauma, which caused him to lose his memory of the attack.
A stolen and geolocated phone
The individual also stole his cell phone and other personal belongings. By geolocating her smartphone, the victim was able to discover where her attacker was. However, according to him and Stop Homophobia, “the police did not consider it possible to go to the scene or identify the suspect”. “He even made fraudulent payments with my card,” said one of the two men. In the complaints filed, the authorities also did not specify the homophobic nature of the attack, which the victims regret. The association has mandated a lawyer to represent them.
The organization also recalled “that there is no dedicated liaison officer in Lyon, despite promises in 2018 from the former Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner”.
On social networks, many political figures, such as Sandrine Rousseau, shared their support for the victims. Mohamed Chihi, deputy mayor of Lyon in charge of security, assured that the city is “at the disposal of the prefecture and the justice system in order to shed light on this intolerable attack” while wishing “a speedy recovery” to the people attacked. “Homophobia has no place in Lyon! “, he concluded.