Two weeks before the Music Festival, a few days before the World Cup, the authorities are under pressure.
These appointments will be placed under surveillance after the incidents recorded in several cities in France, but also in the Riviera capital, during the celebrations of Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the Champions League.
On TikTok, some accounts are already calling for a return match, and to provoke new excesses. “The Champions League was the warm-up, music festival we’re doing it again”, thus indicates a post on the social network, liked by 18,500 people.
On the evening of the Parisian club’s European coronation, May 30, several groups of young people gathered in the city center of Nice or Cannes.
According to the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture, these gatherings disrupted traffic and gave rise to “jets of fireworks and mortars some of which were directed at the police.”.
The police intervened to contain the gatherings and secure the main axes of the city center. Street furniture, terraces and store curtains were targeted. A crowd of several hundred young people surged onto Avenue Jean-Médecin, forcing a police patrol to retreat. Arrested and placed in police custody, a minor will be tried next November and is subject to educational measures.
More than 890 arrests in France
On a national scale, the celebrations of PSG’s first European title were marked by numerous incidents. The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, reported more than 890 interpellations over the weekend.
Two deaths were also recorded in Paris on the sidelines of the festivities. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, a man born in 1997 died after jumping into the Seine in 5e arrondissement.
A second man was found in the river near the Louis-Philippe bridge the next morning. Investigations have been opened to determine the exact circumstances of these deaths.
These events have relaunched the debate on the management of large festive gatherings, whether linked to sporting events or popular events such as the Music Festival.
L’inquietude du syndicat Alliance
As the World Cup and Music Festival approach, the Alliance Police nationale union is calling for vigilance.
Its president, Fabien Vanhemelryck, believes that the police are faced with a répétition des violences during large gatherings. “The colleagues were struck by lightning that evening. They experience it regularly. My colleagues can’t take it anymore, the citizens can’t take it anymore.”underlines the union official.
The president of Alliance considers that the phenomena of urban violence observed during certain festive events are becoming recurrent and complicating the work of personnel engaged in the field. Julien Hauskhnecht, delegate of the Alliance union in the Alpes-Maritimes, is already denouncing « le désert des renforts ».
Returning to the visit of the Minister of the Interior, he asserts that between the balance of departures and arrivals, only thirteen additional police officers are assigned to the Alpes-Maritimes. “For a department like ours it’s ridiculous. We are sold reinforcements by the civilian reserve which I salute, but which does not cover the work of the investigators. We are sold CRS reinforcements which I welcome, but in person they are only passing through. »
These “too few reinforcements” will not, according to him, be sufficient to absorb the risk, insisting on the fact that, due to lack of personnel, the police services struggle to anticipate. « Cela nous annonce un été très compliqué. »
While several tens of thousands of people are expected in the streets of Nice for the Music Festival and occasionally for the World Cup matches, state services and security forces should reinforce their presence in order to prevent any overflow and ensure the smooth running of the festivities.
When questioned, the Departmental Directorate of the National Police simply indicates that a suitable system will be put in place for each event.
