Lyons. "Fuck his mother to this son of white p...": he defends his girlfriend and ends up beaten

By Pierre Chemel Published on News Lyon See my news

Emma is terrified today at the idea of ​​going out in the street... Friday evening, October 1, the young 26-year-old Lyonnaise, project manager in marketing, returns from the evening with her boyfriend Florian, 33, as well as a couple of friends. In the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, she is approached by a young man, in front of the PMU on Place des Terreaux.

“I was walking with my girlfriend, our respective friends were about thirty meters in front of us, she tells Actu Lyon. I was approached by two young men whom I would describe as scum. One of them accosted me and began to flirt with me heavily. »

Emma replies that she is accompanied and at the insistence of the young man, whose age she estimates to be around 25, she reminds that street harassment is punishable by law.

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The group of attackers is growing visibly

For only answer, the young raises the tone a little more. Emma is called a "dirty whore"! She quickens her pace, the two men continue to follow her. Florian, Emma's boyfriend, an engineering project manager, hears the disturbance. Rather sturdy, he intervenes. The tone rises, a few blows are exchanged. But that doesn't end the bullying.

Rue Constantine, the four friends continue to be followed. The most insistent aggressor “yells in the street “Fuck his mother well to this son of p… of white!”. “I think he was doing this to round up other young people who wandered around the neighborhood,” Emma assumes. In fact, the group of pursuers is growing visibly, from two to eight.

rain of blows

The situation degenerated in front of the LCL, at the corner of rue Constantine and quai de la Pêcherie. “They knocked my boyfriend off,” Emma continues. A rain of blows falls on the young man. “My boyfriend got kicked in the body and on the head”. “Some were hitting him and I'm sure they didn't even know why. It was a real pack effect, a gratuitous relentlessness, it looked like they just wanted to break some white (sic)”, says Emma.

Once the beating is complete, the group of attackers disperses as quickly as it had formed.

Emma's friends call the police. In vain. “They weren't coming. I called them back after 20 minutes, says Emma. Five minutes to wait before having an answer on the phone. Firefighters were already on the scene.

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Bitterness and misunderstanding

Two days after this sad evening, Emma is still shocked and feels bitter. Florian, he comes out with multiple bruises, a beautiful coquard, an open arcade and a serious headache. “He would have been less hefty, it could have been much more serious, says Emma. He took the blows and was able to protect himself with his arms.

“The police did not take our complaint directly, they invited us to do so later, regrets the Lyonnaise. I have the impression, to hear them, that there was a great weariness in them. The firefighters told us that it happened almost every night. As we left, the police said to us: “That way, you know who to vote for next year! »

“That way you know who to vote for next year! »

A remark that makes Emma react. "It pains me, it's not in my values, but it says a lot about the state of mind of the police." The young woman continues: “When I say that I do not feel safe in my city, I am taxed on the far right. But I don't do politics and I'm not racist. It's just a fact! On the other hand, when I hear the words of the guy who assaulted my boyfriend by calling him the son of a p... of a white man, that's racism.

Her boyfriend Florian is not his first assault. Four years ago, he had already been attacked by a group of young people in Place des Terreaux. “At the time, he had filed a complaint, just as he will return to do this Monday, adds Emma. It was explained to him that the CCTV cameras were of too poor quality to identify anyone and in the end, the attackers were never found. It is to believe that complaining is useless.

“I no longer feel welcome in my own city”

And Emma makes this chilling observation: “I no longer feel welcome in my own city”. This impression came gradually but, according to her, has been obvious “since the end of confinement”.

“I've been going out to Lyon for years but when before, it stopped at inappropriate words, today it's raining blows. We've gone up a notch. The violence is no longer just verbal but has become physical. Tomorrow, what will it be, firearms? »

An Uber for a mile

The young woman, like many of her friends, explains that she was forced to "map the city".

Not enough police at night

For Emma, ​​the problem lies partly in the fact "that there is not enough police presence in the evening in the center of Lyon". “There are patrols by car, she explains, but we see them arriving 100 meters away. There should always be four or five police officers on foot at Place des Terreaux, it would be much more of a deterrent. When I hear the mayor of Lyon Grégory Doucet say that he does not want to see too many police forces in the streets, it makes me hallucinate! Because in the end, he maintains this insecurity and plays the game of extremes! »

The other regrettable point, according to the young woman and her friend: “Individualism”. “I observed the solidarity and the esprit de corps that exists between these little thugs, it does not exist among ordinary people. When my boyfriend was attacked, there were screams, lots of people saw what was happening but no one moved. By doing nothing, the Lyonnais, of all colors, are only legitimizing and passively accepting what is happening. A simple attention from a few to what was happening to us could have been a deterrent”.

"Lower your eyes in the face of insults"

On her Facebook, Emma posted this message which reflects her revolt: “Today in France, the police are so understaffed that it takes them 5 minutes to answer the phone. Today in France, it is better not to react to street harassment to avoid getting hit. Today in France, laws exist, but cannot protect us as we are afraid to assert them. Today in France, I was told that I should not have reacted, to avoid this type of consequence. Today in France, when you are a woman, you have to lower your eyes in the face of insults, because the police never come quickly enough. Today in France, we are insulted because we are white. Today in France, we choose cowardice. We prefer to avoid and ignore rather than punish.

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