After the festive scenes in Rennes well beyond the imposed curfew, Gérald Darmanin promised to toughen up the tone. – David Vincent / AP / SIPA
The disobedient Rennes will get slapped on the fingers. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Thursday that there would be consequences to the curfew scenes braved in Rennes by residents on Wednesday, the day of the reopening of bars in France. “For this deconfinement to take place, for the stages of deconfinement to be respected, for the French to be able to live again normally, everyone must respect them and therefore yes, that means that the police and gendarmes will be particularly severe after 9 pm to ensure that the rules that we have put in place are respected ”, declared the minister during a trip to Nantes.
“I believe that all French people are very happy to find the life of before and it is quite normal that we can continue to find this life of before. […] and the national police, the gendarmerie are there to apply the rules which protect our fellow citizens and which some do not prevent the life of before returning ”, continued Gérald Darmanin, come to Nantes in particular to sign a security contract integrated with the city.
“Rather deplorable images”
“I gave instructions this morning very firmly, following the rather deplorable images that we saw yesterday”, he insisted, adding: “it is normal […] that we can punish those who do not respect the general rule ”.
On Wednesday evening, on the first day of the reopening of the terraces, several hundred revelers had braved the curfew in the center of Rennes, forcing the firefighters to intervene to put out a pallet fire, and the police to use tear gas in response to projectile fire.