As a pervasive spirit of lawlessness continues to plague France since last Tuesday’s deadly shooting of a 17-year-old Arab boy by police, on Saturday night, July 2nd, rioters rammed a car into the home of the mayor of L’Hay-les-Roses, injuring his wife and one of his children.
On Sunday, Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun himself reported on the incident that occurred in the town south of Paris, which in a tweet he labeled an “assassination attempt.”
In relating what had happened, Jeanbrun said that protesters had “rammed a car” into his home before “setting a fire” while his family slept.
In the confusion, his wife and one of his children got hurt while the former attempted to shield them and flee the attackers through the house’s backyard.
An investigation into attempted murder has been opened, but no suspects have been arrested.
“Last night a milestone was reached in horror and disgrace,” the mayor tweeted, vowing his “determination to protect and serve the Republic [of France] is greater than ever,” and that he would “not back down.”
Jeanbrun, from the conservative Les Républicains party, was not at home during the incident, as he was in town hall which is now fortified with barbed wire and barricades, as it itself had seen attacks for several nights.
Jeanbrun quickly garnered the support of Marion Maréchal, the executive vice president of Reconquête, who called his ordeal “an act of terrorism” which “must be treated accordingly.”
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, while visiting the Paris suburb of L’Haÿ-les-Roses on Sunday, also condemned the terrorist attack on the mayor’s home, describing it as “particularly shocking.”
“We will let no violence get by” unpunished, Borne said, adding that those responsible for the attack would be punished with the “utmost severity.”
“We’re going to do everything to bring order back as soon as possible,” she said.
The incident took place during a 5th night of chaos across France, where rioters have set cars on fire, attacked infrastructure and buildings, and clashed with security forces.
Following the fourth night of rioting, the grandmother of the slain teenager, during an interview with the French news outlet BFMTV on Sunday, July 2nd, called for calm, imploring the thousands of rioting youths to go home.
“I tell the people who are rioting this: Do not smash windows, attack schools or buses. Stop! It’s the mums who are taking the bus, it’s the mums who walk outside,” Nadia said.
“We want these young people to be left alone. Nahel is dead. My daughter had just one child, she’s lost, it’s over, and my daughter has no life left. And they made me lose my daughter and my grandson,” she added.
“I am tired, I can’t take it anymore, I can’t sleep, I turned off the TV, I turned everything off.I don’t want to listen to this anymore.” She said that her “heart is in pain,” and added that those who attack police should all be punished.
Police had made 719 arrests nationwide by early Sunday following a mass deployment of security forces aimed at quelling the unrest. While fewer than the 1,311 arrests the previous night and the 875 on Thursday night, the crisis still poses a strong challenge to French President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership.
