The fresco depicts the faces of Adama Traoré and George Floyd standing out against a sunny sky. At the top of this drawing immortalizing the French who died in 2016 in a gendarmerie in Val-d'Oise after his arrest and the American who died during his arrest in Minneapolis in the United States on May 25, the "Collectif Art" of Stains tagged this sentence "Against racism and police violence".
This work of art, produced in tribute to these two black men on rue Pierre-de-Geyter in Stains and inaugurated on Thursday by Azzedine Taïbi, the mayor (PCF) of the town, provoked the ire of the police union Alliance 93.
"Oil on fire in an already ultra-tense context"
The latter calls for a rally this Monday at 4 p.m. place du Colonel-Fabien, located just next to the place of the fresco. In a message posted on Saturday on the social network Twitter, the union asked that the sentence referring to police violence be removed from the drawing.
Final provocation by an elected official of the republic who stigmatizes the Police. @ ALLIANCE_93 requests that the sentence be repainted! @ ALLIANCE_93 calls for mobilization on June 22 at 4 p.m. place du colonel Fabien in Stains. @ Afpfr @ prefpolice @ Prefet93 @VilledeStains @Place_Beauvau pic.twitter.com/IKNn0b4eL2
- Alliance 93 (@ ALLIANCE_93) June 20, 2020"It stigmatizes our profession," protests Grégory Goupil, Alliance's assistant national secretary, who does not hide "his anger". "It stirs up hatred against us!" And that an elected representative of the Republic can bring him bail is revolting. How will Mr. Taïbi communicate now with the police officers in his commune? It only adds fuel to the fire in an already ultra-tense context for the police. The simple sentence Against racism and violence would have been enough. "
The mayor fears "for public order"
After the message posted by the union, the mayor - whom we did not manage to reach this Sunday - published on the social network Facebook a statement assuming his position. "At Stains, we have always favored dialogue and the link between the police and the inhabitants," he writes. However, we will not stop denouncing the unacceptable behavior of certain police officers who exceed their rights and use their position unworthily to express their racism and their contempt for the inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods. "
The city also denounces the reaction of the police and worries about the excesses that this demonstration could cause.
This Sunday evening, activist Assa Traore, Adama's sister, also called, in reaction, to also gather at 4 pm in Stains, considering that repainting the fresco would be "an infamous and insulting gesture". She was present on Thursday to inaugurate the work.
"This call for assembly is a threat to public order that I cannot tolerate," continues Azzedine Taïbi. In correspondence since yesterday with the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis, I told him of my deepest concerns about the risks of overflow and disturbances of public order. […] Our streets must not be the scene of such provocations. "
"We are not thugs!"
"Rest assured," breathes Grégory Goupil. Our manifestation will not degenerate. The other rallies organized by our profession in recent days have been peaceful. We are not thugs! "
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Regarding the reactions that this demonstration could provoke among residents of the commune or activists, the representative refers the mayor to "his responsibilities". For its part, the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture was unable to tell us this Sunday whether these two gatherings would be authorized or not.