Le Figaro Marseille
It has almost become a habit. Since the start of the week, the nights of residents of the Plaine district have been disturbed by fireworks. The rockets, most often triggered between midnight and one a.m., burst and crackle in a cascade on Place Jean Jaurès, a large, popular and busy public square in downtown Marseille.
The residents of the Plaine, organized around a collective, have continued to denounce this noise pollution through several videos. In these, numerous individuals with masked faces are filmed lighting colorful fireworks and screaming, all in the middle of the night. Images which are strongly reminiscent of the night riots which broke out throughout France in the summer of 2023 in reaction to the death of Nahel, during which thousands of pyrotechnic articles were used by the rioters to sow trouble in the towns of the country.
“This took place on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evening. There were a lot of detonations, mainly caused by small groups of individuals or isolated people who set fireworks on fire
,” explains Maxime*, resident of the neighborhood and member of the
“Riverains de la Plaine”
collective to Le
Figaro.
.
“Some evenings there was only one salvo, but sometimes we saw a second wave of detonations. What is worrying is that it was at the same time
,” he continues.
These shots disturb the residents of Place Jean Jaurès, who fear for their safety in a context of increased tension: during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, a famous bar in the neighborhood was even targeted by gunfire from the from a customer who had been refused entry to the establishment. On
France Bleu
, some residents living in the direct vicinity of Place Jean Jaurès even speculated that the fireworks shooters would be none other than drug dealers seeking to
“mark their territory”
.
“We know that there are small sales taking place on the square, is this a sign that traffickers would like to set up there?”
, asks Maxime.
Neighborhood under high surveillance
Contacted by
Le Figaro
, the Bouches-du-Rhône police headquarters denied any installation of a deal point in the surrounding area, explaining that it had organized a police operation last Wednesday intended to
“fight against wild fireworks and nuisances.” »
, during which 19 fines for drug use were issued. Since then, the fireworks have stopped, at least temporarily.
“We will see what will happen this weekend, the collective remains very vigilant
,” assures Maxime. On the police side, the sector will remain under increased surveillance by the Marseille Center Division.
The collective of residents of the Plaine, fearing an increase in these shootings with the arrival of summer, also called on the authorities to bring in
“street mediators”
in order
to “anticipate the nuisance for the residents”
of here the next few weeks.
“This mediation system would make it possible to anticipate behaviors harmful to residents: fireworks, excessive alcohol consumption, very loud music,”
lists Maxime, tired like his neighbors by
“the accumulation of all these noisy nights
. ”
The Plaine district, very lively day and night, is regularly marked by festive events. For around twenty years, a
“militant”
,
“protest”
carnival , undeclared to the authorities, has taken off from Place Jean Jaurès every March. The event, at the origin of numerous incidents of damage and clashes with the police, was even partially banned by the police headquarters this year. 9,000 people were still able to join the festivities under very close police surveillance.
*
The first name has been changed.