Eleven days after Thomas’ death, the tension has not subsided. The LR mayor of Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme), Marie-Hélène Thoraval, filed a complaint on Wednesday after receiving threats by telephone and on social networks, including one of death “by decapitation”, we learned on Thursday with the chosen one.
These threats came after his public positions the day after the death of young Thomas, fatally injured on the sidelines of a village ball in Crépol (Drôme) on the night of November 18 to 19, a tragedy which aroused tensions in the region and in particular in Romans where this 16-year-old high school student was studying.
After this death, Marie-Hélène Thoraval notably called on BFM TV for “awareness” of the State regarding the situation in sensitive neighborhoods of the country, and in particular in her city, by evoking “a level of delinquency, whose roots can be found in radicalization” or “drug trafficking”.
Ultra-right demonstration
At the center of attention since Thomas’ death, residents of the Cité de la Monnaie, a sensitive district of Romans, called for a demonstration on Saturday in the city center to protest against these comments. The ultra-right called for demonstrations the same day in Valencia to demand “Justice for Thomas” and to protest against the convictions of identity activists for violence committed during a show of force in Romans last weekend.
The investigation into “organized gang murder” opened by the Valencia public prosecutor’s office after Thomas’ death resulted in the indictment of nine young people, including three minors.
Photos with identity presented as those of the Crépol attackers were distributed on social networks by ultra-right accounts which for several days have been targeting the sensitive Monnaie district in Romans and calling for revenge.
“Facho”
The councilor says he received threats “in two stages”, on Wednesday two anonymous calls to the town hall and messages which called her a “fascho”, asking her if she “was the subject of protection” and if she was armed to defend themselves, she explained to AFP, confirming information from BFM TV.
“Then at the beginning of the afternoon, I received a private message on my Instagram account”, with “a death threat telling me that I was going to be decapitated and that someone would juggle with my skull”, a- she said.
The violence that occurred in Drôme, during the Crépol ball and then the following days, in Romans sur Isère, pushed the authorities to increase calls for calm.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced Tuesday that he would request the dissolution of three small ultra-right groups, after last weekend’s punitive expedition to Romans, a “firm” reaction according to him intended to avoid “a scenario of civil war.”