Four French journalists were targeted by gunfire from individuals on motorcycles during the night of Thursday to Friday in a district of Fort-de-France while they were covering nightly urban violence on the island, and a policeman was injured. Loïc Venance, AFP photographer, Maureen Lehoux and Julien Taureau, reporters from BFMTV and RMC Sport, and Raphaël Lafargue, photojournalist from the Abaca Press agency, were in a deserted street due to the curfew, they were filming and were photographing a burning roadblock from a safe distance when they received three shots from an unidentified firearm. They were not injured and left the scene. Shots "totally unacceptable", reacted this Friday the spokesman of the government Gabriel Attal on BFMTV.
“We got out of the car to film the roadblock from afar.
We were near the Levassor canal, very close to the marina, a rather quiet place these last days.
We were alone.
I saw two motorcycles stop.
I shouted: Fuck there are motorcycles!
», Said Loïc Venance.
The journalists had heard that armed men on motorcycles came to provoke the police during the nightly violence.
“When we got into the car, there was a first shot.
Then two more shots before we go, ”detailed Julien Taureau.
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“It was truly a night like no other, our third night in a row.
There, the city was empty and the atmosphere very heavy, ”recalls Maureen Lehoux.
“We had been touring the city for an hour and a half to witness the violence.
We met a lot of policemen who told us to go home.
They were super tense.
We said to ourselves, it's super calm, it's not normal, ”abounds the AFP photographer.
For the moment, it is not known under what circumstances the policeman was injured, in Fort-de-France too.
Martinique has been plagued by violence every night since the call for a general strike launched Monday by the inter-union, to protest in particular against the health pass and the vaccination obligation of caregivers.
Several police and firefighters have since been the target of gunfire, slightly injuring many of them.
VIDEO.
Martinique: police and firefighters targeted by gunfire
Marc-Olivier Fogiel, CEO of BFM, which belongs to the same group as RMC, reacted on Twitter to "unacceptable" facts.
“With all my heart with the BFMTV and RMC teams who were doing their essential information work,” he wrote.
Unacceptable!
With all my heart with the @BFMTV @RMCsport teams who were doing their essential information work.
@MauLehoux @JulienTaureau https://t.co/65N0ZZuwek
- Marc-Olivier FOGIEL (@FogielMarcO) November 26, 2021
Security was reinforced before the night from Thursday to Friday, "with a more mobile device and more to target the most difficult points", according to the prefecture.
A curfew was introduced Thursday until "calm".
