Parade in tribute to Steve Maya Canico, in Nantes on June 21, 2021. – Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / SIPA
Two years after the tragic death of Steve Maia Caniço, his relatives and supporters continue to pay tribute to him. Nearly a thousand people marched through the streets of Nantes on Monday evening in memory of the one who fell in the Loire during a police intervention during the 2019 Music Festival.
“We are there to pay tribute to him, for a peaceful purpose and not for any political demands. We do not want him to fall into oblivion and that justice be done ”, explained at the beginning of the demonstration“ Moune ”, 23, a friend of the young 24-year-old extracurricular animator, who died just two years ago. “We are still here”, “We will not be silent” or “Dancing is no longer a freedom” proclaimed some signs waved by the demonstrators, many of whom wore a white T-shirt marked with “Justice for Steve”.
“We don’t forget, we don’t forgive”
“No justice, no peace”, “we do not forget, we do not forgive,” chanted the crowd who marched from the prefecture to the island of Nantes, without being able to access the Quai Wilson where Steve was last seen during a techno party interrupted by a police intervention. The police refused to let the demonstrators pass, arguing that the demonstration had not been declared to the prefecture. Only a few family members were able to meditate at the scene of the tragedy.
The public prosecutor’s office announced last week that the investigation had established that Steve Maia Caniço had fallen in the Loire “during the intervention of the police” during the Fête de la musique 2019. Several people, in particular police officials and the mayor of Nantes, were summoned by the examining magistrate for a possible indictment.
Black blocks cause violence
In addition, clashes erupted on Monday during a second demonstration organized a little later, after 9 p.m., in the Bouffay district, on the sidelines of the Music Festival, at the call of the ultra-left collective Nantes Revolted. Black blocks removed paving stones in the Kervéguen district and faced the police who used tear gas, while many Nantes residents were seated at café terraces.