Europe 1 with AFP 09:34, April 08, 2022

An investigation for "intentional violence in meetings" was opened at the end of March after the death of Jérémy Cohen in Bobigny, hit by a tram following violence.

On Thursday, the young man's family called for "remain cautious" in the face of claims of an anti-Semitic motive, not established by the current investigation. 

The family of Jeremy Cohen, a young man of Jewish faith fatally hit in mid-February by a tram after being assaulted, called on Thursday to "remain cautious" in the face of claims of an anti-Semitic motive, not established by the ongoing investigation.

"Concerning the anti-Semitic nature of this attack, the position of our family is clear: we do not know at present if it is proven," said his mother Evelyne Cohen according to an extract from a press conference broadcast. in particular by BFMTV.

"Let justice be done"

"We want justice to be done and ask everyone, all networks, Internet users, and other media, to remain cautious," she continued, indicating that she had "full confidence" in the investigators.

On Wednesday February 16 around 8 p.m., Jeremy Cohen, 31 and with a slight disability, was crossing the railway tracks when he was hit by the tram in Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) just after being hit by young people. .

In cardio-respiratory arrest and victim of a head trauma, he died in hospital shortly after midnight.

A few days before the first round of the presidential election, this drama has become a political fact, widely commented on by the candidates.

Jeremy Cohen "did he die because a Jew?" Questioned the first, on Monday on Twitter, the far-right candidate Eric Zemmour (Reconquest!).

Her rival Marine Le Pen (RN) spoke of a "criminal act" which "could be an anti-Semitic murder".

"All the light must be shed", on the drama, for their part asked three other presidential candidates, Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), Yannick Jadot (EELV) and Valérie Pécresse (LR) who denounced a "lynching ignoble which could be anti-Semitic in nature".

"No discriminatory grounds at this stage"

Faced with this avalanche of political reactions, the Bobigny prosecutor Eric Mathais spoke on Tuesday to indicate that the investigation does not allow at this stage to establish "discriminatory reasons" in the death of the young man.

A video of the scene filmed by a witness, which was communicated to the investigators on March 10, changed the investigation.

This was entrusted on March 29 to an investigating judge, detailed the Bobigny prosecution.

"It would be wrong to think that it was social networks or a presidential candidate who made it possible to open an investigation," Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Thursday on BFMTV, "it's only a fortnight after the media, pushed by a presidential candidate, speaks about it".

The investigation is entrusted to the judicial police of Seine-Saint-Denis.