Slap to Macron: the alleged perpetrator tried on Thursday in immediate appearance

The alleged perpetrator of the slap inflicted on the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron during a trip to Tain l'Hermitage (Drôme) on Tuesday will be tried Thursday in immediate appearance, the Valence prosecutor's office said on Wednesday evening.

Aged 28, "Damien T. will be presented in the morning of tomorrow (editor's note: Thursday) before the Public Prosecutor with a view to his presentation for immediate appearance in the afternoon," said in a statement the public prosecutor Alex Perrin.

"Violence without incapacity on a person holding public authority"

Arrested with him, his comrade "Arthur C. will be issued a summons to court for the end of the second half of 2022 to respond to offenses related to illegally held weapons" found at his home, said the magistrate.

Their custody, decided for the counts of "violence without incapacity on a person holding public authority", was also extended "in order to continue the checks".

Residing in Saint-Vallier, north of Valence, the two men were arrested immediately after the fact.

They are "both unknown to the judicial and intelligence services".

They are members of associations of their commune "in connection with the martial arts, the Middle Ages and the manga universe", recalled the magistrate.

"No party or militancy expressed"

During his hearing, Damien T., "as a couple, without children, without profession", admitted "having dealt a blow to the Head of State and having spoken words denouncing the policy".

Close, according to him, to "the movement of yellow vests" and sharing "traditional political convictions of the right or the ultra right" without being "of any party or activism expressed", he claimed to have "acted instinctively and 'without thinking' to express his dissatisfaction, "said Perrin.

The hearings of witnesses and the companion of Damien T. did not shed more light "on the motivations" of the young man, against whom premeditation - "at the present time" - is not retained.

"The latest verifications and investigations are underway," the prosecutor nevertheless stressed.

The second accused was able to explain his presence on the scene

As for Arthur C., "single, childless, temporary, arrested alongside his friend after filming the attack on the Head of State, he" was able to explain his presence on the scene without participating in the aggression "of the President of the Republic.

At his home, "old books on the art of war and

as well as a red flag with yellow hammer and sickle and a flag of the Russian revolution" were found during a search. This slap aroused the indignation of the entire political class. Emmanuel Macron for his part relativized the gesture, denouncing "isolated facts" committed by "ultraviolent individuals".