TESTIMONY. Two M6 journalists attacked by fifteen people in Canteleu – 76actu

Cameras, microphones and notebooks couldn’t miss the Mélanie Boulanger’s press conference, at the town hall of Canteleu (Seine-Maritime), Monday 11 October 2021. The day before, the city council’s custody had been lifted. His reaction was expected.

The journalists of M6 did not experience the event like the rest of their colleagues … A few hours after the press conference in town hall, around 6 pm, they toured the city to take illustrative images. “We saw that it was a bit sensitive, there are a lot of housing estates, public housing bars. We feel that it is a little tense, ”relates one of them. As a precaution, journalists do not move away from their vehicle, “to be ready to leave in case of trouble”.

Insults begin to burst forth from Cantiliens. The two journalists get back into their car, and the one sitting on the passenger side continues to film the city through the window, while the other is driving.

Today, one of our teams was reporting in Canteleu following a wave of arrests for drug trafficking and criminal association. While our reporter and sound engineer were filming, they were first insulted. (1/2)

– SDJ_M6 (@ sdj_m6) October 11, 2021

Then, once inside their vehicle, they were targeted with iron bars and projectiles. We condemn this inadmissible aggression against our journalists and press freedom. The SDJ of M6. (2/2) @ m6info @ M6Group pic.twitter.com/HYtHjnn2Ux

– SDJ_M6 (@ sdj_m6) October 11, 2021

“We received projectiles, cobblestones, stones …”

Until both saw their path blocked by fifteen young people, at the level of the boulevard Claude-Monet. “An ambush”, according to the JRI (journalist reporter of images): “They started hitting the vehicle with kicks, iron bars, we received projectiles, paving stones, stones… I don’t know how long it lasted but for me it was forever. ”

In a panic, the sound engineer, who had never driven an automatic transmission in his life, was unable to restart. “We’re going to stay there,” the two men think. “And then, I don’t know by what miracle, we managed to start the car, breathes the passenger. I told him: ‘You accelerate completely, you never stop, you never slow down and we get out of Canteleu’. The driver zigzagged between the people who were on the road, the other cars blocked by this roadblock, grilled the stops and the priorities until the Rouen police station, where they were able to file a complaint.

An investigation is underway

While the two journalists were shocked at the time, they were not physically injured. Today, “things are better”, they assure. The reason for this attack, the journalist we contacted made two hypotheses: either the simple fact that they were journalists was enough to excite people who do not hold this profession in high esteem, or they were taken for agents of the BAC (Anti-Crime Brigade).

An investigation conducted by the Departmental Security will respond to it. The police will analyze the CCTV cameras, as well as the images captured by the journalists – since the attackers appear on one of the tapes -, and a technical team will take the fingerprints of those who tried to open the doors of the police station. car, explains a judicial source.

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