The mayor of a small town in Jura filed a complaint after being the target of around ten homophobic tags, he said on Friday, an act which is part of an increase in attacks targeting local elected officials. The registrations were noted Monday morning, Christmas Day, said Gabriel Bremond, 72, mayor of Eclans-Nenon, a village of around 400 inhabitants.
Riddled with mistakes, they were placed on the walls of the town hall, the cemetery, on a bus shelter or even on the asphalt, he added, listing: “Gabriel in garter belt”, “pedophile”, “ mayor on the run”, “travelot”… Signs of the local campsite, bought by Gabriel Bremond and his partner in 2020, were also stained, said the elected official.
” Fools “
The tags were undoubtedly made on Christmas Eve night, according to the elected official. “It was Santa Claus,” he quipped. “We have to turn all of this into humor and derision”, even if “it’s done by imbeciles”, added Gabriel Bremond, elected in 2022.
“I immediately called the gendarmerie” and “filed a complaint,” continued the mayor. “We will find the culprits,” assured the elected official, convinced that there are “several” authors. “I don’t think” that they are from the village, “all the people from the town that I have seen are outraged (…) They were afraid that I would resign but I will not resign, that would be (…) proving right » to the authors, he insisted.
“It doesn’t hurt me,” said the mayor, however, saying he was “embarrassed for the village.” The elected official says he has received dozens of messages of support “from all over France”, from “elected officials” as well as “private people”. The Minister of Local Authorities and Rural Affairs, Dominique Faure, also sent him a message of support, assured Gabriel Bremond.
Violence against elected officials is a sensitive subject, which has gained momentum in recent months. According to the Ministry of Local Authorities, verbal or physical attacks against local elected officials increased by a third between 2021 and 2022. According to the Ministry of the Interior, attacks against elected officials are expected to increase by 15%. in 2023, after an increase of 32% last year (2,265 complaints and reports).