CREPOL DRAMA THE RACIST CHARACTER

MURDER MUST BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT

During an interview this Tuesday, November 28, 2023 on BFM-RMC, Marie-Hélène Thoraval also pleaded for “putting an end to the culture of excuses”.

The racist character

The mayor of Romans-sur-Isère, Marie-Hélène Thoraval, affiliated with right-wing diversity, declared this Wednesday, November 29 that the “families” of the victims of the attack during the village ball in Crépol, in Drôme, ten days ago, requested that the courts consider the incident as “racist”.

“Families are asking for two things,” said the elected official during her interview on BFM-RMC.

“The first is the incontestable firmness of justice, and the second is that the racist character manifested by the attackers be taken into account,” she stressed. The mayor of Romans-sur-Isère expressed her fears about possible future tragedies after Thomas' murder.

She regretted the fact that all those involved “come from already delinquent parents”. According to her, it is a culture that is transmitted, an observation she has made as mayor since 2014.
Asked about the Monnaie district, where some of the suspects come from, Marie-Hélène Thoraval said that among the 4,500 inhabitants, “around a hundred young people” pose problems, forming “a particularly violent hard core”.

Radicalization and drug trafficking

She described this hard core as seeking to establish “a lawless zone by occupying the territory” of Drôme, to the detriment of the city’s 34,000 residents who aspire to tranquility.

“It’s an entire territory that is affected,” insisted the elected official, adding forcefully:

“We must stop practicing the culture of excuses.”

Concerning the disclosure of the suspects' first names, the mayor of Romans-sur-Isère criticized the fact of "not having communicated the first names earlier", deeming this "indecent".

She questioned the initial lack of transparency, pointing out that disclosing first names on social media before they are confirmed by authorities only reinforces stigma.

Already on Sunday, the mayor had called for "sitting around the table and working differently" in the face of a level of delinquency which, according to her, has its roots in radicalization and drug trafficking, in Romans and in other other cities.

On Monday, the government tried to ease tensions sparked by Thomas' death.

What cost the 16-year-old high school student his life was not "a simple brawl" but "a tragedy which runs the risk of a shift in our society", declared Olivier Véran, calling for not to respond to violence with violence. Certainly, but when will the government have the courage to name things and take the necessary measures ?