The resignation of Yannick Morez, mayor various right of the commune of Loire-Atlantique, under pressure from the extreme right, creates an electroshock.

"Faced with the project to transfer the Cada, wanted by the State, I felt helpless, isolated and left without help," adds Mr. Morez.

"Violence against the mayor of Saint-Brevin is unacceptable for whatever reason. In a democracy, conflicts are settled by the exchange of arguments and opinions," wrote Friday on Twitter Eric Zemmour, hitherto silent.

The day after Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne's promise to "better protect mayors", the Minister in charge of Local Authorities Dominique Faure announced on BFMTV the launch Wednesday of a fight center aimed at "mapping violence against elected officials, to understand its origin to be able to obviously act in the field of prevention".

Acts of physical or verbal violence against elected officials increased by 32% in 2022, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

On the night of March 22, the family home of the mayor of Saint-Brevin was the target of an arson. Two vehicles were destroyed and part of the house damaged, but no one was injured.

According to the prefect of Loire-Atlantique Fabrice Rigoulet-Roze, "measures" had been taken concerning the mayor of Saint-Brevin, with "specific protection".

"Maximum" protection

The commander of the gendarmerie company of Pornic Etienne Naud confirmed to AFP that Mr. Morez was registered in a file of the gendarmerie "which allows to create an alert in case of any disturbance at home so that we can immediately engage the maximum of means, in addition to the many patrols around his house and the presence of gendarmes at the events in which he participated".

"We are at the maximum of what the national gendarmerie can do (...) To my knowledge (...) there is no mayor, faced with an anti-migrant center mobilization, who is permanently physically protected by the police," the officer said.

According to three Brévinois interviewed by AFP in a bar-PMU, "the straw that broke the camel's back" for Mr. Morez was a recent verbal assault on a terrace when he was with his family.

Anti-immigration protesters in front of the town hall of Saint-Brevin-Les-Pins, Loire-Atlantique, on April 29, 2023 © FRED TANNEAU / AFP/Archives

Since the publication Wednesday evening of his statement on his Facebook page, Yannick Morez has not responded to any request from journalists, who came in large numbers Thursday and Friday in the peaceful seaside resort.

According to his office, the mayor will not speak until "next week".

On Wednesday morning, Mr. Morez will be heard in the Senate before the Law Commission. On the other hand, the day of his meeting with Elisabeth Borne is not yet known.

"In solidarity" with Mr. Morez, the mayor SE of Cénac (Gironde) Catherine Veyssy returned her tricolor scarf to the Elysee.

"What touched me was the violence he suffered, and this feeling of extreme loneliness he may have felt. It is not possible to suffer such affronts and such violence when you are mayor," the mayor of this town of nearly 2,300 inhabitants, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, told AFP.

"This means that somewhere democracy is not going well (...) We embody, at our modest level, the Republic," she added.

The Socialist Party has called for a symbolic march on May 24 in Saint-Brevin in support of the mayor.

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© 2023 AFP