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Rarely has the seaside resort of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins experienced so much turmoil.
This Saturday, around 200 gendarmes and 60 CRS were deployed in this town of 14,000 inhabitants in Loire-Atlantique.
The reason ?
The installation of a reception center for asylum seekers near a school.
According to the gendarmerie, around 380 people gathered from 2 p.m. against this project.
Antifas had also made the trip at the same time.
Some clashes broke out: paving stones and street furniture were sent by the latter to the police, leading them to use tear gas.
A few hours earlier, between 900 and 1,000 people had been counted during a counter-demonstration at 10 a.m.
This isn't the first time this Cada has taken locals to the streets.
Already, on December 11, the opponents, on the initiative of a group of residents and school parents had expressed their dissatisfaction.
In response, the Brevinois Attentifs et Solidaires collective called to take to the streets at the same time to show the “
welcoming
” face of Saint-Brevin.
But on February 25, the situation looked much more tense.
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The anti had invited the MEP Gilbert Collard, "
no longer affiliated with any party
" according to his Twitter biography but formerly a member of Reconquest.
Opposite, the other inhabitants had received the support of parliamentarians from Loire-Atlantique, the department or even the green MEP Damien Carême.
In addition, in the meantime, the abandonment of the refugee reception project in Callac, a Breton town of 2,200 inhabitants, has dismayed one camp and restored hope to the other.
"We will win"
“
Yes we will win!
exclaims Patrick Jardin, at the start of the afternoon.
He has the difficult task of representing Gilbert Collard, who is finally absent.
The man who lost his daughter at the Bataclan had taken part in the Battle of Callac, and he does not intend to stop there: "
I will go everywhere in France
", he announces, referring to the other establishments of Cada in small towns or villages.
During this time, the cries of antifa resound in the distance: “
Break off!
We know your addresses!
On the platform, the organizers call for calm.
The demonstrators were filtered at the entrance and searched to avoid any incident.
One of them, aged 57, injured under the eye, says he was attacked by around fifty antifas in a small alley while another had his flag stolen.
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Like last time, members of the Collective for the Preservation of Pierre Attelée are particularly concerned about the location: “
It's an inappropriate place, near a school.
It is far from all shops and it is not served by transport.
How will these welcomed people come out of their isolation?
asks a resident, claiming to be apolitical.
At his side, other Brevinois are present but also Reconquest sympathizers from eight nearby federations, the RN manager of the canton of Saint-Brevin, the influencer Damien Rieu, or the Catholic organization Civitas.
“
We are apolitical.
We welcome all parties
", reiterates another organizer of the collective on the stage, who denies being at the
The counter-demonstration mobilized more with nearly 1,000 people.
LT/Le Figaro
“
Racist, extreme right!
“Launched them a few hours earlier the counter-demonstrators, a few hundred meters away, on the market square.
On a musical background, colorful flags of a completely different genre floated: EELV, NPA, Attac, CGT, League of Human Rights... “
Since 2016, the town has already welcomed between 50 and 80 people in a Cada.
There was no incident
, ”says Philippe Croze, president of the Brevinois Attentifs et solidaires collective.
Through this call to mobilize, “
we want to show that Saint-Brevin is a land of welcome for refugees, wherever they come from.
We also denounce the methods used by the opponents with emails addressed to the parents of pupils, the threats towards the director of the school.
»
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After a walk of a few meters to reach the town hall, during which the formula resounds "
It's not the migrants who are too many, it's the reactionaries and the fachos
", the speakers follow one another at the microphone, such as the former director of the Ofpra Pascal Brice, or Damien Carême.
They deplore the growing tensions on the subject and recall that the window of an association for the reception of migrants has just been stoned in Nantes.
"
The Cada will settle and it's a good solution
," rejoices a municipal councilor from the opposition.
"
The far right is advancing, even in our territory which is not a land of establishment
" worries the deputy LFI-NUPES Andy Kerbrat.
On one side or the other, demonstrators from outside Saint-Brevin had made the trip.
Nantes, Saint-Nazaire, Redon... some even came from Occitanie.