The emotion has not fallen back into the ranks of the police: two weeks after the murder of Brigadier Eric Masson in Avignon, thousands of them must meet before the National Assembly, Wednesday, at the call of their unions who want more severity for "law enforcement aggressors".
And these "demonstrators" will have a minister in their ranks.
The unions called on "citizens" to come "support" them at the rally scheduled for 1pm to 3pm.
While security has become a campaign theme a few weeks before the regional elections and one year before the presidential election, many elected officials should be present, from Republicans to the National Rally, including the Socialist Party and the Communist Party.
Among these political leaders should also be the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who told AFP that he would come "to greet" the police.
"Angry" and "disgusted"
The unions decided to organize this rally after the murder of Eric Masson, killed at a deal point in Avignon, on May 5.
This new tragedy shook the police, already marked by the assassination on April 23 of Stéphanie Monfeture, administrative agent at the Rambouillet police station (Yvelines), by a Tunisian who would have become radicalized.
Wednesday # 19May, at 1pm, come in large numbers to the citizens' rally in support of the guardians of our # Republic, in front of the National Assembly, in #Paris.
# JesoutienslaPolice # RassemblementCitoyen # TousEnsemble pic.twitter.com/nPJ8LDWLYN
- SICP Police Commissioners (@SICPCommissar) May 17, 2021
According to union officials, many “angry” and “disgusted” police officers see the death of the sergeant during this banal intervention as a symbol of repeated violence against them which requires a firmer “criminal response”. "Every evening, the police are caught in ambush or victims of projectile throwing", assures Grégory Joron of SGP-FO Unit, for whom justice "does not use the right tools", by "decriminalizing" some offenses such as ambush, for which the penalties incurred are however significant.
In 2019, 11,217 police officers and gendarmes were injured on mission compared to 9,961 in 2017, according to the Ministry of the Interior. Figures, which do not detail the number of injuries caused by an assault or by an accident and which run over the period of “yellow vests” demonstrations. In 2020, a year considered special due to confinements, 8,719 police officers were injured on mission.