Matthieu Valet: "Who is interested in the seriously injured gendarme in Sainte-Soline?"

Matthieu Valet is spokesperson for the Independent Union of Police Commissioners.

FIGAROVOX.

- During the clashes in Sainte-Soline between the police and the demonstrators, Jean-Luc Mélenchon tweeted “Enough police violence in Sainte-Soline!

Without the BRAV-Ms, without this circus, absolutely nothing would happen other than a walk in the fields”.

Were the security measures deployed by the State disproportionate?

Matthew VALET.

-

No, we knew from intelligence notes that a substantial gathering of radical elements was planned.

We expected major overflows, which is why the demonstration was banned.

It is also surprising to see elected officials supporting and going to illegal demonstrations, when they are supposed to vote and uphold the law.

Moreover, private property, therefore the right to agricultural land, is enshrined in our Constitution and the Declaration of Human Rights.

The police and the gendarmerie have a duty to protect each other's property.

No one would like someone to come and ransack his house when he owns it and can enjoy his property freely, as permitted by law.

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Thus, from the outset there was a significant risk of disturbing public order.

You could already see activists moving en masse on the site and there were not only French radical elements, but also Italian and Spanish.

They were clearly coming to do battle with the police.

In addition, we had feedback from October 29 and 30, 2022 in Sainte-Soline, where 61 gendarmes were injured in a single afternoon.

It should be noted that these activists mainly belong to the ultra-left movement, as evidenced by the documentation of the intelligence services.

There were S files for radicalism, “antifa”, anti-capitalists, radical ecologists… In short, they all share the bed of radicalism.

It must be clear, the

Are we witnessing a radicalization of the far left and environmental movements?

Should the security measures put in place by the State be tightened?

Indeed, the police and the gendarmerie must adapt to delinquency and new forms of protest.

Twenty years ago, it was the subject of Basque and Corsican nationalism that mobilized the intelligence services and the anti-terrorist services a lot.

Today this threat has been greatly reduced, there are almost no more attacks committed in Corsica or the Basque Country.

Then Islamist terrorism also mobilizes a lot of our services.

On the external level, military action has greatly reduced the Islamic State and on the internal level, the monitoring of radicalized individuals allows consistent results on a daily basis.

Today and in the years to come, the main threat is that of the ultras, whether on the ultra-right or on the ultra-left.

First, ultra-left activists sow violence and terror, and second, they try to explain that this violence emanates from the state and not from themselves.

Matthew Valet

These activists are trained in guerrilla techniques and violent confrontations with law enforcement.

This is the reason why, in Sainte-Soline, we have seen very scattered, very mobile groups, which constantly adapt to the devices of the gendarmerie.

Likewise, their equipment speaks volumes, be it their shields, eye protectors, nose protectors, knee pads… They were equipped with paramilitary uniforms to come face the police.

The goal was clearly to go and kill policemen.

When we throw Molotov cocktails, homemade bombs, explosive devices, hatchets or cement balls with pikes, it is because we clearly want to attack those who embody the State, who protect the goods and people.

Today,

the General Directorate of Homeland Security and Territorial Intelligence are re-adapting their organization by preparing much more strongly for the fight against the ultras, with larger targets and staff than ten years ago.

When you put political will, means and clear objectives into it, the results are always very significant, as with Islamic terrorism.

During the demonstrations, 47 gendarmes were injured, including one who was seriously injured by an explosive device.

In your opinion, was the soldier's injury under-reported?

Can we explain it by a sympathy of the media class with regard to the environmental movement?

Communication is very important in the strategy of the ultra-left.

Firstly, they sow violence and terror, in particular thanks to their training in guerrilla techniques, and secondly, they try to explain that this violence emanates from the State and not from themselves.

To do this, they broadcast the images of the response of the gendarmes, often truncated, taken out of context, sometimes modified, evading their violent acts sometimes obliging the actions of the police to protect their lives and to shelter the working tool of farmers.

Thus, the phase of violence precedes a phase of victimization, where they completely reverse the events.

This allows them to explain that the problem is not theirs,

but institutions of the Republic which do not allow them to express themselves.

There is a whole strategy behind it, nothing is left to chance.

De-escalation is allowed when you have interlocutors who agree to discuss, who are in a peaceful aim, who are there to claim and not to break.

Matthew Valet

Regarding the media sphere, there is a certain form of complacency towards the radical demonstrators.

While 47 gendarmes were injured, this fact was completely evaded in favor of the debate on what the media calls police violence.

Today, we have swung into a war of image which is coupled with an ideological war.

Like the gendarmerie, which broadcast images of very violent attacks on the military, the police must now enter into this image war.

The ideology of the “ultras” is to obtain their demands through violence and chaos.

We are here to assert the republican ideology.

Wouldn't the state have an interest in limiting confrontations and participating in a form of de-escalation?

De-escalation is allowed when you have interlocutors who agree to discuss, who are in a peaceful aim, who are there to claim and not to break.

It is therefore necessary to have, opposite, political organizations, trade unions, organizations of civil society, which have a clearly defined identity.

In Sainte-Soline, people were gloved, hooded, but it's complicated to talk to people you can't see and don't identify.

When we face delinquents and no longer demonstrators, who come to hurt us, we cannot be in de-escalation.

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If we remain passive, in front they take action and attack us.

It's always very complicated, because going to challenge thugs means going into contact, therefore engaging in a sensitive but effective maneuver.

In Paris, when the black blocks take action, we have already tried to wait to see if they stop, but the result is more than negative, they attack small businesses, fast food, to the banks… The longer we wait, the more the situation deteriorates.

Acting quickly can limit damage and nuisance.

These individuals are dangerous for our democracy and for those who come to demonstrate peacefully.

Those who come with petanque balls and any other form of weapon by destination must not be

ordinary

Matthew Valet

What can the state do in the face of the rise of extremism?

We can take the example of hooliganism which plagued French football 30 years ago.

Before the matches, the city centers were transformed into battlefields, during the matches there were invasions of the field, smoke bombs, projectiles... We managed to fight against these phenomena on the one hand because everyone was unanimous against, yet the extreme left today enjoys a certain complacency;

and on the other hand because we were able to submit irrefutable proof to the prefects that when the hooligans on file were forced to go to a police station before and after the meeting, this greatly limited the risk of overflow.

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The law allows those convicted of protest violence to be barred from returning to protests.

We can therefore combine criminal convictions with a ban on appearing in demonstrations for several months.

We have very competent intelligence services concerning the ultra left, there are a certain number of people who are already on file S, we can set up mechanisms.

Those who come with petanque balls and any other form of weapon by destination must not be

ordinary

This is clearly not unusual.

This violence is not a temporary element but a real challenge for the years to come.