“The police kill”: after a deadly road check in Paris, the political class is torn apart by the words of Jean-Luc Mélenchon – franceinfo

A police check, a young woman shot dead by the police, and a debate that ignites on the political field. The death of the passenger of a vehicle whose driver is suspected of having refused to comply, late Saturday morning, June 4, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, revived the question of the use of force by the police and gendarmes and fed a new pass of arms between Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of La France insoumise, and his political adversaries. >> Paris: what we know about the death of a passenger in a car, shot and killed by police denouncing a refusal to comply Franceinfo returns in four acts to these lively political exchanges, which occur before the first round legislative elections. 1Mélenchon denounces “a police force that kills” Jean-Luc Mélenchon reacted in two stages. A few hours after the events, while the passenger was between life and death, the leader of La France insoumise published a first message on Twitter denouncing “another unacceptable abuse of power” by the police. “The death penalty for a refusal to comply. The prefect approves? The minister congratulates? When is the shame?” he protested. The next day, Sunday June 5, the former presidential candidate called the Alliance police union a “factious group” and wrote “the police kill”, an expression which had already caused controversy for Philippe Poutou. The police kill and the rebel group Alliance justifies the shootings and the death for “refusal to comply”. Shame is when? – Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) June 5, 2022 Guest of France Inter, Jean-Luc Mélenchon assumed to have “raised the tone” to denounce “the evolution of the use of police force as it is today defined by the political power that commands”. “If you vote for me, I will change the doctrine of the use of police force in our country”, promised the one who hopes to become Prime Minister if the left alliance (Nupes) wins a majority of seats in the Assembly after the legislative elections of 12 and 19 June. .@JLMelenchon “obviously” assumes his remarks on the police who “kill” and the Alliance union, “factious group”: “I say that it is not normal that we kill someone because he refuses to obey; there is the law, punishments, fines, but not the death penalty.” #le79Inter pic.twitter.com/C5pYh3kpPR — France Inter (@franceinter) June 7, 2022 Defending himself from being “anticop”, Jean-Luc Mélenchon again pointed the finger at the “factious behavior”, according to him, of certain police “politico-union organizations”. “When the police have the only answer after the Pont-Neuf affair [au cours de laquelle un policier est soupçonné d’avoir tué le conducteur et un passager d’une voiture qui aurait forcé un contrôle] to hold a demonstration where they denounce justice, it is factious behavior!” he thundered. Nupes is identified by the presidential majority as its main opponent in the legislative elections: “The police, the gendarmes deserve respect. They do courageous, difficult work and risk their lives at every moment,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin first reacted on Monday. “Insulting them dishonors those who want to govern. Let the investigations be done without using them as hostages of an electoral campaign.” Guest of France Bleu, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne was even more frontal. “I find it very shocking the way Jean-Luc Mélenchon has ‘systematically attacking the police with totally outrageous remarks,’ said the new head of government. “I find it very shocking the way @JLMelenchon systematically attacks the police with totally outrageous remarks “, @Elisabeth_Borne at the microphone of @WendyBouchard in #MaFrance pic.twitter.com/ZlCDhYdCln — France Bleu (@francebleu) June 7, 2022 “Four deaths in 4 months. The death of a 21-year-old young woman shot in the head: no big deal for Borne. For her, I alone am a problem”, immediately retorted Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Twitter, calling her a “heartless technocrat Prime Minister, without human compassion, without a republican principle on public force”. “He is going too far” , for his part protested the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, criticizing a “controlled skid”. “It’s unbearable from a senior politician, particularly in this electoral period”, estimated the guard des Sceaux on BFMTV. And to question: “Is it the ‘politburo’ of LFI which dispenses justice in this country? “Opposing justice and the police, as some people do constantly, is extraordinarily serious for our pact Republican,” he added, failing to recall that Alliance police union officials have repeated on several occasions that “the problem of the police, [c’était] justice”. 3The right and the extreme right engage Jean-Luc Mélenchon is “always on the side of the thugs”, “never of the police”, lambasted Marine Le Pen, the former candidate of the National Rally for the presidential election, on the antenna of franceinfo. The deputy of Pas-de-Calais pleaded for a “presumption of self-defense” for the police. “When you are a political leader at the level of Mélenchon, say ‘the police kill’ , it’s a real shame”, she said again. “That Mr. Mélenchon makes his business from the permanent criticism of the police is a scandal”, for his part was indignant Xavier Bertrand at the microphone of RTL For President LR Hauts-de-France, the leader of Nupes must “never in life” become Prime Minister. Invited on France 2, Bruno Retailleau, the boss of the senators of the Republicans, for his part denounced ” intolerable words” and demanded “apologies to the police”. The words of @JLMelenchon are intolerable. He must d apologies. A simple reflection: who are responsible? Are these the only policemen or the driver who evaded police control and who rushed at the policemen? @France2tv #4V pic.twitter.com/Vd4Dem7jyi — Bruno Retailleau (@BrunoRetailleau) June 7, 2022 4The left is hesitant Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s positions have been variously appreciated within the left. Bernard Cazeneuve, former interior minister of François Hollande, notoriously opposed to the left alliance, estimated on Twitter that “insulting and smearing [les policiers] out of electoralism and sheer cynicism is irresponsible and unworthy The police protect us. Police fall each year to ensure the protection of the French. They deserve our respect. To insult and smear them out of electoralism and sheer cynicism is irresponsible and unworthy. — Bernard Cazeneuve (@BCazeneuve) June 7, 2022 Even within the New People’s Ecological and Social Union itself, some have chosen to distance themselves from the leader of the rebels. Questioned by franceinfo, the socialist spokesperson Dieynaba Diop thus considered that Jean-Luc Mélenchon had used a vocabulary “too strong”. “I naturally have moderate words,” admitted Renaud Le Berre, environmental candidate for Nupes in the 5th constituency of French people living abroad, on franceinfo. “When there is a drama of this kind, you always have to be careful, to have all the elements of the investigation to decide.” Guest of “4 Truths” on France 2, the ecologist Sandrine Rousseau, candidate of the Nupes in the 9th district of Paris, for her part gave strong support to Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “In fact, the police have killed, and in fact, this is not the first time,” said the former candidate for the environmentalist primary who pleads to “restore relations between the population and the police”. FRANCE 2