On May 1, sixty-six individuals were arrested in Lyon after the ransacking of the city, on the sidelines of the demonstration against the pension reform. If twenty-seven were released without prosecution, for lack of evidence that could allow them to be charged, thirty-eight will be judged in immediate appearance in the coming days, including eight this Wednesday afternoon.
On Monday, the thugs were twice as numerous as during previous demonstrations. “2,000 individuals at risk, including 1,000 black blocks” took up position at the head of the procession, smashing everything in their path. Sometimes without the police intervening. Or late.
Passive law enforcement?
Asked by Progress on the “passivity” of the police, the director of the departmental security of the Rhône replied that “the absolute priority” was “always the safeguard of human life”. “The black bloc is made up of potential assassins”, argues Nelson Bouard to the regional daily, specifying that the thugs in the “parasitic mode of operation” had not hesitated “to get as close as possible to unions or families, to use them as shields.
“We were able to leave objects burning on the public road when there was no risk of spread, because the firefighters could have become targets and the arrival of a fire engine could have been dangerous in the crowd “, he justifies again by way of example.
The Sûreté du Rhône also reports nineteen injured police officers, including one suffering from several fractures who was operated on Tuesday. “We also deplore other fractures, burns… This shows that our agents were far from being passive,” he concludes. They were very brave. »