Mayor Eric Piolle (EELV) on Thursday denounced a government communication coup in Grenoble, where a police operation was carried out the day before in a sensitive neighborhood after the online broadcast of videos featuring armed men on a point of deal.
"Entering into this logic of war of provocations with the dealers, it's unhealthy", declared on BFM Eric Piolle, who estimated that the dealers sought above all to "do marketing".
A "coup de com '" in response
The prefect of Isère Lionel Beffre assumed this communication operation with AFP, confirming that it was a response to another communication operation of the dealers. On Twitter, the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin did not hesitate to highlight the operation.
On my direct instruction, a police operation is underway in the Mistral, at #Grenoble. Thank you to the forces mobilized to impose the republican order, the only one that protects. No doubt should remain: the State will impose itself in the face of the enslavement of a minority of society
- Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) August 26, 2020"What would have been said if the State had not shown that it does not itself belong to a few? We would have spoken of state inaction. It was yesterday (Wednesday, editor's note) to reaffirm his place, ”said the prefect.
Automatic rifles and playground
In a first video, which has gone viral like a second since Monday, seven men, hooded and sometimes equipped with apparently real automatic rifles, take the stage watching around a deal point, near a playground, where a man is headed for a consumer.
The neighborhood is described, in the other video, as "capital (sic) of the drug": we see five men around a table covered with packets of sweets that could contain narcotics.
A meager record
"I strongly regret that the Minister (Gérald Darmanin, editor's note) commits to this logic where one points the finger at a district of such or such a city", declared Eric Piolle, assuring that the Mistral district was not a zone of no -law.
The city had asked the State for reinforcements in police force, "because we knew that the confinement was going to create tensions", he assured. A request remained unanswered, according to the city council. “On the other hand, we have this communication operation, half an hour, no arrest: it's really com '! », He was indignant.
The results of the operation on Wednesday evening were indeed meager with around fifty checks, but no arrest or seizure to report. According to France 3, it resulted in the control of 50 drug users checked. Two scooters were also seized
160 arrests since January
For the prefect, "it is not by increasing the number of police that you will prevent the settling of scores". If, on Wednesday, arrests had been able to take place, "the police would not have hesitated to do so," he added.
"It's interesting that the State says that it is present, but not in this form: it is in the daily life that it is forged", judged Mr. Piolle, stressing that the Mistral district was also animated by " a cultural, educational and sporting life ”.
The prefect in response explained that beyond this one-off operation, the daily involvement of the police, especially in this Mistral district, was "stubborn, discreet, but nevertheless effective". According to figures from the prefecture, 160 arrests have been made there since January.
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