"The level of political violence is becoming incredible", the inhabitants of Saint-Brévin at the bedside of their mayor

Charles Guyard with AFP / Photo credits: Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP 20:19 p.m., May 11, 2023

Yannick Morez, mayor of Saint-Brévin, announced on Wednesday his resignation because of the fire that targeted his home in the commune of Loire-Atlantique, shaken for several months by demonstrations hostile to the project to move a reception center for asylum seekers (Cada), for which the mayor denounced in recent weeks the lack of support from the State.

In Saint-Brevin, residents are both surprised and in solidarity with the resigning mayor Yannick Morez (DVD), tired of the violence related to the transfer of the reception center for asylum seekers. On the steps of the town hall, Jacques Bonniot, a 59-year-old philosophy teacher, holds in his hand an envelope for the attention of Yannick Morez, whose announcement of the resignation has the effect of a political bomb, up to the national level.

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"The level of political violence is becoming unbelievable"

"I come to send him a letter of support to show that it is not only the far right that is expressing itself," he said. "The level of political violence is becoming incredible and it is not acceptable for a mayor to be in danger because of false information circulating on social media."

"We feel in a climate of insecurity. It's scary. These are the conditions under which we are working today. I run into the mayor from time to time. You feel someone anxious. We feel a fear, "says Gérard, agent in the road service at the city of Saint-Brévin, at the microphone of Europe 1. This fear is the daily life of the elected official who, in recent months, has been subjected to intimidation and death threats. On March 22, a new milestone was reached. His two cars and his house were set on fire.

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"A deafening silence since the fire"

"There has been a deafening silence since the fire that took place at the mayor's house. He received no support. We discussed it with him, he had no sign from the prefect and he just got a call from Olivier Véran the day after the fire, that's all, "says Philippe Croze, president of the collective of Brévinois attentive and solidarity. It would be this lack of support from the authorities rather than the arson that seems to have pushed the mayor to throw in the towel. Many judge, this Thursday, the reactions of Elisabeth Borne and Emmanuel Macron very late, even opportunistic.