“We all knew that one day, words of hatred would kill”: Omar Sy, Theodora, Gilles Lellouche… Personalities denounce racism after the Trappes attack

“Racism deafens us to suffering and distress, it dehumanizes us.” Nearly a hundred personalities from culture and sport called, Tuesday October 27, 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 left five seriously injured and one dead on Friday, Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old Frenchman of Congolese origin.

Among these personalities, 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 protagonists denounce a double standard when it comes to murders of racialized people, like Aboubakar Cissé, murdered in Gard in April 2025 or Hichem Miraoui in Var in May 2025, while Quentin Deranque, they recall, had this "honor".

The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, must propose on Tuesday at the conference of presidents to observe a minute of silence for Pengo Bossio Wangi at the opening of questions to the government, franceinfo learned on Monday from a parliamentary source.

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 have thought they recognized, despite the helmets, masks and gloves, young people from the suburbs, an expression that it is no longer necessary to translate, everyone knows that it refers exclusively to blacks and Arabs.”

They denounce "the fever which has spread to TV sets and the political class" and "the extreme right in majesty". These speeches encourage taking action, believe these personalities.