“Elected officials, and in particular parliamentarians, have been the subject in recent weeks of threatening messages, which are addressed to them directly or via social networks,” said Gerald Darmanin in a telegram dated Tuesday. The Minister of the Interior therefore invited the prefects to “strengthen the surveillance around the offices of parliamentarians as well as their homes if necessary”.
“No intimidation, and a fortiori no violence, against elected officials is tolerable,” he insisted. “Hate messages” spotted on social networks must also be reported “as quickly as possible” to the Pharos platform (responsible for combating illegal content on the Internet).
1,300 threats or attacks against elected officials in 2020
In early October, the Tours public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation after sending four elected officials, including the mayor of Tours Emmanuel Denis (EELV), to anonymous letters with a bullet. On October 21, the deputy of Dear Loïc Kervran and his colleague from the Rhône Thomas Rudigoz, members of the majority, announced that they were filing a complaint, after receiving a message referring to the British deputy David Amess fatally stabbed during a permanent parliamentarian the week before.
Nearly 1,300 threats or attacks against elected officials were recorded in 2020, a very strong increase compared to the previous year (421), according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.