"There are thousands of people who don't feel safe from a cop, and I'm one of them." The singer Camélia Jordana spoke about police violence in the program "We are not lying", broadcast on Saturday May 23 on France 2. Facing the writer Philippe Besson, the young woman denounced the attacks that were able to suffer the black and Arab communities in the suburbs.
The police "are supposed to protect us, but there are thousands of people who do not feel safe from a cop, and I am one of them," she said. For his part, the writer close to Emmanuel Macron spoke of the demonstrators who may have been violent in recent months and who, according to him, force the police to use violence.
"You can't see the tree hiding the forest"
“I'm not talking about the demonstrators, I'm talking about the men and women who go to work every morning in the suburbs and who are massacred for no other reason than their skin color. It's a fact, "bounced the young woman.
“Today, my hair is relaxed. When my hair is frizzy I don't feel safe in the face of a cop in France, ”she added.
For his part, Philippe Besson insisted on the problem of the police force victims of violence when they intervene. A finding on which the actress refused to dwell, seeing in it an exception. "The fight is such that we cannot see the tree which hides the forest and which would minimize the fight in question," she said.
He added: "If each time, instead of having to be dismissed when a black or Arab woman or man, or simply not white, gets killed [...] maybe the cops would not be hated in fact. "
Far Right Reactions
On the set, as on social networks, the artist's words have sharply divided. Police officers, like Abdoulaye Kant, defended their profession. He condemned a "demagogic" speech and a "misunderstanding" of the profession. Finally, several elected members of the far right denounced a “hate speech” and a “tearful lament”.
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"The palm of the day to Camélia Jordana whose bottomless stupidity and hate speech towards the police show us who are those who divide France and on what criteria they" reflect ", reacted in the evening Sébastien Chenu, spokesperson for the National Rally.
The palm of the day at @Camelia_Jordana whose bottomless stupidity and hate speech towards the forces of order show us who are those who divide France and on what criteria they "reflect" #ONPC The best would be just to continue to sing and no more! https://t.co/nG557XH2sC
- Sébastien Chenu (@sebchenu) May 24, 2020"Behind Camélia Jordana's pathetic tearful lament, we can guess the hatred of France," also tweeted Julien Odoul, regional advisor of the National Rally in Burgundy Franche-Comté.
There are thousands of police officers, gendarmes, firefighters who risk their lives every day to keep the Republic in the neighborhoods in the face of wild scum. Behind the pathetic tearful lament of @Camelia_Jordana, we guess the hatred of France. https://t.co/iadD2JEJ0Z
- Julien Odoul (@JulienOdoul) May 24, 2020