Killed in service while conveying a victim for medical examinations, the three peacekeepers of the Roubaix police station were entitled, this Thursday, to a national tribute commensurate with their sacrifice. The haste with which the Elysee Palace organized Emmanuel Macron’s trip was not felt in the course of the ceremony, and the solemnity of the moment did the rest. On the other hand, there was an impalpable feeling in the air, a tension that went beyond the contemplation that such a drama imposes.
If presidential trips have always been particularly framed, we feel that, since the first demonstration against the pension reform, the level has gone up a notch. The ceremony took place in the hermetic enclosure of the national police school of Roubaix, but it was the entire district which was cordoned off from the start of the morning, the arrival of Emmanuel Macron not being planned until 11:00. Anonymous wishing to attend the tribute and journalists had to arrive before 10 a.m., the time to pass security checks and mine clearance. That done, some were parked in the school car park, in front of a giant screen, while the others waited in a press room with a ban on leaving it.
Particularly protected families
The course of the ceremony was therefore millimeter, only the start time having been upset by the delay of the president. At the briefing, the journalists are warned: once a spot has been chosen, place d’armes or broadcast area on the big screen, it will no longer be possible to move. Logically, the Elysée insisted on the “express request of the families” of victims not to be filmed, photographed, questioned, approached, “nor even described by the editors”. Just as logically, the moment of intimacy shared between the bereaved families and Emmanuel Macron took place behind closed doors.
On the immense square of arms, some 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters had made their mark. Under two arbours, out of the field of vision of the journalists, had been gathered the relatives of the three victims. Carried by their comrades from the Roubaix police station, the remains of the three police officers were laid out opposite the presidential platform, in coffins covered with tricolor flags.
As soon as the president arrived, the ceremony could begin. It was also a sign that it was now forbidden to film, even with a mobile phone. And the Elysée to explain that the video capture device had been specially designed so that families do not appear on the screen at any time. The images, official, would be available at the end of the tribute.
“We are witnessing a trivialization of violence”
Nevertheless, from a distance, the press could see the president. Review the troops first before delivering a speech full of emotion and firmness. “In front of the pain of their families, in front of the pain of their colleagues, in front of the mourning of the French, silence should be enough”, began the president, before “denouncing irresponsible behavior that kills”. Emmanuel Macron did not repeat the much-commented word, “decivilization”. But at the end of the tribute, a delegate from the SGP Police Unit union went in the direction of the Head of State: “We are witnessing a trivialization of violence, gratuitous, and it affects everyone, police, firefighters, medical professions. “This driver is a criminal,” she added.
And now, France has new wards of the Nation and three new posthumous heroes. “Like too many of our public officials carried away in the exercise of their missions in recent years,” lamented Emmanuel Macron. Raised to the rank of police captain, adorned with their medals of courage and insignia of the Legion of Honor, the police went to join their final resting place, carried by the funeral march of Chopin and followed by their relatives.
We will never know who uttered this scream, which appeared out of nowhere, after the coffins left the Place d’Armes. The uniforms have dispersed, the equipment has been repacked. It will have been necessary to wait more than an hour, and the departure of the president, so that the locks jump and that those who came to attend the ceremony can also leave the school grounds.