For two days, the "Augustin affair" has ignited social networks. Augustin, named after this 17-year-old teenager who was assaulted on Friday evening at Place Bellecour in Lyon (Rhône). Suffering from a broken jaw, he underwent surgery on Monday and should be fixed on his ITT this Wednesday.
What happened Friday evening in front of the Monoprix? After making a complaint Sunday with his father to the gendarmerie brigade of Fontaine-sur-Saône, Grégoire, Augustin's older brother revealed the case. He posted his side of the story on Facebook on Monday. “At 11 pm, a group of 5 colored men started assaulting girls at the Bellecour Le Viste bus stop. Seeing this, my little brother took their defense by retaining these individuals until they returned to the shelter in the Monoprix. Five against him with all the honor of a man, they smashed him for free without anyone intervening, neither for the girls, nor for him… ”A story that uses the vocabulary of the extreme right which has moreover quickly relayed the case.
Friday evening in front of the Monoprix Bellecour at 11 p.m., a group of 5 colored guys began to attack girls at ...
Gepostet von Gregoire Richard am Sonntag, 23. August 2020Agnès Marion, leader of the RN in Lyon, followed by Andréa Kotarac, her counterpart in the Metropolis of Lyon, then Charles Perrot, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, seized on the news item. The extreme right-wing group Génération Identitaire also lent its support to Augustin, denouncing "the scum resulting from immigration which continues to make insecurity reign in downtown Lyon". A “Justice for Augustine” Facebook group was also created, garnering thousands of supporters, often accompanied by racist and vengeful insults and comments.
The town hall concerned about the rise of racist tensions
After a call for witnesses launched by the departmental security and the prosecutor's office of Lyon, the investigators were able to hear this Tuesday the two young girls taken to task Friday evening. They explained that they had not been “attacked”, but simply “approached” by a group of young people as they left the Monoprix, before Augustine intervened and took a violent punch in the face. “Seven guys came to ask us for our Snaps, we said no when we released the excuse that we were in a relationship, and they really forced it,” one of them explains on Snapchat. “Augustin and his friend saw that they were following us, so they came to intervene between us and them by asking if there was a problem […] There was one who gave him a potato, it was is all. »Video surveillance is also in operation.
The controversy around the case also focused around the new ecological mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, summoned to take sides. At the town hall of Lyon, we are concerned about the rise of racist tensions in the city. "In August, we had two mosque fires, anti-Semitic tags, the mayor of Givors insulted, and currently this outburst around the Augustin affair", worries an elected member of the Lyon majority. The security assistant, Mohamed Chihi, contented himself with a terse tweet on Tuesday evening: “Friday evening a young man was hospitalized after being assaulted near Place Bellecour. A call for witnesses has been launched, please help if you can, ”he wrote, relaying the call for witnesses launched by the national police.
Friday evening a young man was hospitalized after being assaulted near Place Bellecour.
A call for witnesses has been launched.
Please help if you can. https://t.co/B42gLV33C6
