Trappes attack: Omar Sy, Theodora, Thuram, Camille Cottin, La Fouine denounce “racism which dehumanizes”

Nearly a hundred personalities from culture and sport called on Tuesday, in a text published on the Politis website, to “refuse silence and indifference”, after the racist attack which occurred in Yvelines.

“We all knew that one day, through crazy polemics and murderous punchlines, the words of hatred would kill again,” write the signatories in reference to the attack which on Friday left five seriously injured and one dead, Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old Frenchman of African origin.

“Racism makes us deaf to suffering and distress, it dehumanizes us,” continue these personalities, including the singer Theodora as well as numerous rappers from different generations: Gradur, Abd al Malik, Gazo, SDM, the group L2B, JoeyStarr, La Fouine, Kaaris, Keblack and La Mano 1.9.

Cinema celebrities have also joined forces with this text, such as Camille Cottin, Zita Hanrot, Gilles Lellouche, Aïssa Maïga, Jean-Pascal Zadi and Omar Sy. Comedians (Ahmed Sylla, Edgar-Yves) and sports personalities such as Olympic boxing champion Brahim Asloum, former athletes Marie-José Pérec and Christine Arron and ex-footballer Lilian Thuram, have also co-signed it. “We refuse to be targets,” they say, asking for a minute of silence in the National Assembly in tribute to Pengo Bossio Wangi.

The signatories establish a link between this attack and the media treatment of the day of demonstration on October 17, marked by numerous looting and damage. “Commentators from all sides believed they recognized, despite the helmets, masks and gloves, young people from the suburbs, an expression which it is no longer necessary to translate, everyone knows that it designates exclusively blacks and Arabs”, they write, denouncing “the fever which has spread to TV sets and the political class” and “the extreme right in majesty”.