Since July and the entry into force of the health pass, more than 300 complaints for "death threats" filed by elected "national" or "visible in the media" have been identified by the Ministry of the Interior , according to statements by Gerald Darmanin, this Tuesday on RTL.
"In this particular context of antivax, there are a lot of complaints filed for threats", indicated the Minister.
He specified that there were also threats "in the name of radical Islam" and "of all kinds", however fewer than those addressed to express a refusal to be vaccinated.
Read also Antivax: insults, violence, death threats ... These deputies pro-vaccine pass fear for their lives
"We can clearly see an exponential increase" in this violence against deputies or representatives of the Republic, insisted Gérald Darmanin.
The government is worried about the rise in violence of a radicalized fringe of antivax which is increasing intimidation of all kinds.
A form of "stoning"
This weekend, the LREM deputy for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon Stéphane Claireaux received projectiles launched by anti-health pass protesters.
An attack which according to him "resembled a stoning".
He announced that he wanted to file a complaint.
Like him, 60 elected officials have already been threatened since the beginning of 2022, according to figures put forward in the entourage of the minister.
Traveling to Nice, Emmanuel Macron denounced this Monday an "unacceptable" and "intolerable" aggression, deploring "the intensification of violence" against elected officials.
Another striking incident: on December 29, it was the LREM deputy for Oise Pascal Bois in Chambly who denounced the fire in his personal garage, mainly because of his support for the government's health policy.
After this aggression, Gérald Darmanin had announced a strengthening of the protection of the homes and the offices of the deputies, "in the context of the examination of the bill of the vaccine pass".
But the phenomenon seems deeper than simple tensions linked to the transformation of the health pass into a vaccination pass.
Ferrand, Dupond-Moretti and Darmanin get together
“Unfortunately and for a few years, there has been an increase in attacks on elected officials, the death of the mayor of Signes demonstrates it,” he added on Monday.
In 2019, a man overthrew the mayor of this commune in the Var, Jean-Mathieu Michel, with his van after illegally unloading rubble.
Read also Radical antivax, an ultra-minority fringe among the unvaccinated
To take stock of the number of cases identified and the legal response provided, Gerald Darmanin will be received this Tuesday evening by the President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand.
He will be accompanied by the Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti.
According to figures from the Ministry of the Interior, 1,186 elected officials were targeted in the first eleven months of 2021, including 162 parliamentarians and 605 mayors or deputies victims of physical attacks, an increase of 47% compared to 2020. 419 outrages were also recorded (+ 30%).
