This Friday, many people crowded in front of the door of the city hall of Bordeaux to see the damage. The day before, on the sidelines of the demonstration against the pension reform, several people piled up pallets and garbage cans in front of the monumental door of the Palais Rohan, place Pey-Berland, before setting it on fire.
Five people suspected of having participated in this arson have been taken into custody. Around 8:20 p.m., while the door of the town hall was in flames, the police spotted an individual “throwing a garbage can entirely on fire, with his foot against the entrance door of the town hall”, indicates in a communicated the public prosecutor of Bordeaux, Frédérique Porterie. Followed by the police, he was quickly arrested “for degradation and destruction aggravated by fire”.
A 16 year old minor
Four young people, including a 16-year-old minor, “with his face hidden behind scarves” and “participating in feeding the fire” were also spotted by the police and arrested. On them, they found a bicycle chain, padlocks, stones, a telescopic baton or even a PVC bar according to the head of the prosecution.
“They were placed in police custody on the grounds of participation with a weapon in a crowd by a person deliberately concealing their face and destruction aggravated by fire”, continues Frédérique Porterie, who specifies that two of the adults have already been sentenced “one for contempt, use of narcotics and carrying a weapon and the other for theft, contempt of a person holding public authority, concealment and use of narcotics”. The investigations are continuing and the investigation has been entrusted to the judicial police.
As part of the other overflows that occurred in the city center on the sidelines of the demonstration, seven people from Gironde and two homeless people were also arrested on Thursday evening.