The Paris police prefect Didier Lallement estimated Friday morning that the patients hospitalized in intensive care "are those who did not respect" confinement. His sentence immediately provoked strong criticism on social networks and in the political class, forcing him to apologize a few hours later.

Didier Lallement is once again in the eye of the storm. The prefect of police in Paris attracted strong criticism for a sentence delivered Friday morning during a press briefing. "Those who are hospitalized today, those found in intensive care, are those who, at the beginning of confinement, did not respect it," he said during a filmed sequence, which quickly sparked outrage on social media and in the political class. Faced with outcry, he was forced to apologize a few hours later, saying "to regret" his words.

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A shock sentence on hospitalized patients

Didier Lallement was on Friday morning at a press point on a traffic control to tell the French not to go on the roads, a few hours from the spring school holidays. But it was his sentence about hospital patients that provoked strong criticism. "Those who are hospitalized today, those found in resuscitation, are those who, at the beginning of confinement, did not respect it, it is very simple, there is a very simple correlation", did he declare :

"Those who are hospitalized today are those who, at the start of confinement, did not respect it": Didier Lallement "regrets" his words pic.twitter.com/ha60lyEnQI

- BFMTV (@BFMTV) April 3, 2020

Strong criticism on social networks and in the political class

This shocking phrase quickly provoked outrage on social networks. The name of Didier Lallement even became one of the most discussed topics on Twitter, with more than 20,000 references on the social network on Friday afternoon. Critics have also been strong in the political class, even in the ranks of the majority, like the LREM deputy Aurélien Taché:

Authority is not brutality and policing is not the moral judgment of our citizens. In addition to very questionable and contested methods, the prefect #Lallement regularly leaves his duty of reserve. How much longer ? https://t.co/uLS84Dw1RE

- Aurélien Taché (@Aurelientache) April 3, 2020

"There are, in resuscitation, police and nursing staff without adequate protection, cashiers, elderly people in nursing homes. These totally stupid words are moreover of a coldness and a nastiness which give nausea", has for its part affirmed the president of the National Rally Marine Le Pen.

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Didier Lallement says "regret" his words

Faced with outcry, Didier Lallement was forced to apologize publicly, a few hours later. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner even called him and asked him to write a press release, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.

"Basically, this is false. But beyond the inaccuracy, it is a mistake and I regret it. I know I have struck many people who have relatives in intensive care, in the hospital, or who have recently lost one of their own, "regretted the Paris police prefect:

Didier Lallement after his shock remarks: "It is a mistake and I regret it" pic.twitter.com/vkCtMfFCvi

- BFMTV (@BFMTV) April 3, 2020

Didier Lallement has been strongly criticized for several months for his methods, described as "muscular", even "brutal", both in the media and in the political class. Several officials have asked for his resignation after this new road trip by the Paris prefect of police.