Racist graffiti and death threats were discovered on the walls of a mosque in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (Manche) on Saturday morning, November 25. A photo, published by the mosque on Facebook, went viral on social media. On it, we can see the white gate of the mosque on which is tagged "Death to the Bougnoule" in red.
Other tags were also found in the surrounding streets, reports France Bleu Cotentin. "Justice for Thomas, here we are in France, death to the Arabs," the photos read. This tag refers to the death of Thomas, a 16-year-old killed in Crépol (Drôme) during a village festival a week ago.
These facts have provoked reactions from the political class. At midday, the Minister of the Interior reacted by announcing on X the opening of an "investigation". Gérald Darmanin described the "insulting tags" and "death threats" as "absolutely unacceptable". "The police will search for the perpetrators and bring them to justice," he said.
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A complaint has been filed, and the case has been referred to the prosecutor," the prefecture said. "All the readings were carried out this morning, which made it possible to erase these tags," she said in a statement. The prefect of La Manche, Xavier Brunetière, who visited the scene, "condemns this Islamophobic act in the strongest possible terms and gives his support to the entire Muslim community," according to the statement.
The senator for La Manche and former mayor of Cherbourg, Sébastien Fagnen, deplored the "heinous" acts: "Our city is unfortunately not spared from the unbridled hateful expressions of recent times." The elected official wanted to send his "full and complete support" to the population of the "Muslim faith".