Mobilization of October 17: “Stunning grenades could be used if there was serious violence,” warns Laurent Nuñez

On the eve of the mobilization day of October 17, the Minister of the Interior Laurent Nunez detailed, on France 2 this Friday morning, the expected system: “250 demonstrations and 80 processions must be authorized, we have a little more than forty demonstrations declared” in the prefectures. He said he feared agitated and violent “ends of demonstrations” because of the “ultra-left”, particularly in “Bordeaux and Toulouse”.

The minister left the door open to a return of stun grenades, the use of which had been suspended for the high school movement. “If there were to be serious violence in major cities and on the sidelines of demonstrations, these grenades will be used,” he announced.

“Stronger aggressiveness on the part of young people”

Questioned on his management of policing since the start of the movement by several students, the Minister of the Interior explained himself to teenagers in an interview organized by Le Parisien. “If young people go into public spaces, their action obstructs traffic or they set trash cans on fire, we are obliged to intervene to clear the paths and avoid a fire,” recalled Laurent Nunez. “In this high school movement, we see greater aggressiveness on the part of young people towards the police forces. […] I am both the guarantor of the freedom to demonstrate and guarantor of security. I represent the general interest,” he added.

Asked about the rejection of police authority by high school students, the Minister of the Interior does not see it as a general crisis of confidence, but as a problem specific to young people, which he attributes to a lack of pedagogy. “The distrust is not general. Among the French population, there is great confidence in the internal security forces. The membership rate is lower among young people. This is explained, I think, by a lack of understanding of the role of the police. Their intervention is not always understood,” he worried.

Since the start of the movement, the police have been heavily mobilized. The minister tried to justify the abuses. “When there is use of force, it is a response to an attack. Necessarily. When we see videos on social networks, we can have the feeling that a person is being questioned even though they have done nothing. But when a young person throws a projectile at the police, the arrest does not necessarily happen immediately, it can come afterwards.” While the government is talking about “decline”, tomorrow could give a second wind to the movement, on the first day of the All Saints’ Day holidays.