Days ago—after two long years of being repeatedly subjected to racial and homophobic abuse, including physical attacks by foreigners—a Socialist council member in Les Mureaux, a commune in the northwest suburbs of Paris, has announced his resignation from the position.
38-year-old Boris Venon, who served as a municipal council member and the second deputy mayor in Les Mureaux for eight and two years, respectively, resigned from public office on Wednesday, September 28th, citing a slew of racial and homophobic abuse, death threats, and several violent encounters which he and his family experienced over the past years and months, the Paris-based newspaper Le Figaro reports.
“Over the past two years—I’m referring to my personal experience—I have suffered 11 attacks where myself or my family have felt threatened, even in our physical integrity, whereas during 12 years I have never experienced episodes in this nature,” Venon explained, adding that during the same period he had witnessed “a disintegration of social bonds” between community members.
The nature of these latest episodes, I will not hide from you, have been violent and have deeply called into question the link I had with the town and with its inhabitants.
Venon went on to describe the latest incident, which took place a few weeks ago, following a routine altercation between him and another driver. The former city council member had been driving with a friend when a group of foreign men inside a vehicle hurled racial and homophobic insults at him, chased him back to his home, then threatened to kill him.
“The white man must leave my town, we are at home here,” Venon recounted hearing the group of men say.
“Yes, citizens of European origin can be the object of racism. And it’s a man who has spent his entire political career on the left who tells you.”
In the wake of Venon’s resignation, Les Mureaux’s Socialist Deputy Mayor Dienyaba Diop condemned the abuse his colleague has been subjected to and called for a swift criminal and political response, saying that the French people “cannot accept that the drift of a minority annihilates all of the rest.”
“We are facing insecurity. There are many victims of discrimination, racism, and violence. This is not unique to Les Mureaux, and it must question us collectively. It also requires the support of the State services. We need political answers,” the deputy mayor added.
