#Christophe Castaner

[nullnvoid911]

Members of GIGN (+dog) at their headquarters in Versailles during a visit by French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.

Aurelien Morissard, October 27, 2018

[dailyanarchistposts]

The Aftermath: Police Lies and Violence Come to Light

May Day 2019 is over. Altogether, at least 40,000 people demonstrated in Paris despite the heavy-handed strategy of repression. The massive wave of “violent radicals” that authorities were expecting did not show up, as only between “800 and 1000 people came to square off,” according to official sources. At the close of this long day of confrontations, 315 individuals were in custody and numerous demonstrators had been injured. On the national scale, authorities only mention 24 demonstrators and 14 police officers injured. Obviously, these figures are brazenly inaccurate.

Overall, the authorities were satisfied with the results of the strategies they employed on May Day 2019. Due to the large number of preventive searches and identification checks (almost 20,000) and the reduced amount of property destruction compared to May Day 2018, the new state approach seemed to have borne fruit. “Our strategy paid off, especially the fact of preventing the formation of black bloc groups by hitting them hard as soon as they tried to form,” said someone from the Paris Prefecture, while another police source added: “We were very mobile, very offensive, very powerful. […] At no time during the day did we lose the upper hand.”

Eager to celebrate its victory and reassert its hegemony, the government initiated a heavy media campaign to discredit people who took part in street confrontations. However, the results of this campaign took them by surprise.

First, as thousands of protesters were pushed back by police forces on the Boulevard de l’Hôpital, Christophe Castaner—the Minister of the Interior aka “the first cop of France”—apparently received reports that a group of potential “breakers” had entered the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital and were attacking it. Without thinking twice, he stated: “Here, at the Pitié-Salpêtrière, a hospital was attacked. Its health care personnel were assaulted. And a policeman in charge of protecting the building was injured. Unwavering support for our police forces: they are the pride of the Republic.” Later that day, every corporate media relayed the story about the arrest of the thirty-two “intruders,” as well as the fact that they were all in custody for “participating in a gathering with the objective of committing property destruction or violence.”

While corporate media did not even investigate this far-fetched claim from the Minister of the Interior, we knew that this sensational story of “rioters attacking a hospital” was a pure fabrication intended to discredit demonstrators and their actions—as this exact same strategy had already been used against us during the movement against the Loi travail. A call for anonymous testimonies appeared on a radical publishing platform. This initiative, as well as several “fact checks” by traditional newspapers, enabled us to share our own side of the story in order to deconstruct the deceitful propaganda of the state.

Contrary to the lies of Christophe Castaner, you can see what happened at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital: as police were filling the Boulevard de l’Hôpital with tear gas in order to push back the leading procession, people began to panic. Some individuals located in front of the hospital succeeded in breaking the lock and opening the fences. People rushed into the courtyard in order to escape the tear gas. As police entered the hospital and began charging them, thirty-two terrified people attempted to find shelter in the closest building—where the intensive care unit was located.

As you can see in this video taken from inside the intensive care unit, demonstrators did not “assault health care personnel” or “attack” the hospital. As one hospital worker rightly said in the video: “It is the fault of the CRS (Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité, the French riot police): they came, they kettled [the demonstrators], the only way out was here.” Regarding the injured police officer mentioned by Castaner in his tweet, a cobblestone hit him in the head during clashes that took place about forty minutes after the events at the hospital.

Following the revelations that the Minister of the Interior had intentionally lied about the events at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital, the government had no choice except to step back. Under pressure, Christophe Castaner was forced to explain his behavior in a press conference. Hardly ashamed to be caught lying to the public, he said at that press conference that the scandal regarding his words was nothing but an “absurd polemic.” In the end, the thirty-two comrades were released and the charges against them dropped.

Then, while the authorities were proudly talking about the effectiveness of their new law enforcement approach for maintaining social order, several videos spread online showing police brutality during the demonstration. Among them: a riot police officer throwing a cobblestone at demonstrators; a member of the BAC violating an arrestee by shoving his telescopic baton inside his pants; a police officer in riot gear slapping a demonstrator in the face; and other footage of policemen strangling, brutalizing, and tripping demonstrators.

In the end, the French government, which had expected to carry the day via a strong media campaign to discredit riots and rebellious demonstrators, ended up having to deal with two major controversies that could potentially further weaken its legitimacy and image, especially in the current explosive political and social context. Perhaps, in the end, the government has not emerged victorious from the May Day events after all.

[actualite-marseille]

« Le premier enjeu, c’est la décarbonation »: Christophe Castaner aborde les objectifs du Grand port maritime… BFM Marseille Lire la suite

[alphabetsoup-blogposts]

News regarding Marseille-Fos Port.  The Port administration says it intends to prioritise the introduction of sounder environmental standards and energetically pursue targets for low emissions.

If you’re thinking that Christophe Castaner seems familiar...he was Macron’s 2017 campaign spokesperson, briefly served as Minister of the Interior, party chairman and party president before losing his seat in Parliament. His new job title is “Président du Grand Port Maritime de Marseille et de la Société des Autoroutes et Tunnel du Mont Blanc.” 

[jogallice]

Haute-Savoie : Christophe Castaner nommé à la tête du tunnel du Mont-Blanc.

See on Scoop.it - JamesO

Politique : l'ancien ministre de l'Intérieur Christophe Castaner va poser ses valises en Haute-Savoie. Il vient d'être nommé président du conseil d'administration d'ATMB (Autoroutes et Tunnel du Mont-Blanc), l’entreprise qui gère le tunnel.

JamesO's insight:

Via l’agence JamesO Média❗️N.D.L.R. : article de presse publié par France Bleu Pays de Savoie le vendredi 18/11/22.

      #circulation #trafic

#politique #��lysée #nominations

#HauteSavoie

  Le fil jaune de JamesO.InfO

#économie #politique #syndicalisme

[spunkeater]

[mirrorontheworld]

Depuis fin 2018, en France, la répression des manifestations a été d’une ampleur inédite. En effet, les autorités ont instrumentalisé des lois contraires au droit international pour verbaliser, arrêter arbitrairement et poursuivre en justice des gens qui n’avaient commis aucune violence. Enquête.

[fidjiefidjie]

Humour du jour 😁😂 le Coronavirus encore...

Dessins de presse de Chaunu, Babouse, Dim

Bel après-midi 🙋‍♀️

[helshades]

[nullnvoid911]

Members of GIGN at their headquarters in Versailles during a visit by French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.

Aurelien Morissard, October 27, 2018

[dailyanarchistposts]

Setting the Trap

For years now, it has been a ritual that every time an important day of action approaches, the authorities increase the pressure beforehand via official communiqués and shocking statements in the corporate media in order to spread fear among potential demonstrators and discourage them from joining the festivities.

With Didier Lallement as the new Prefect of Police in Paris, this psychological warfare is in full use. After the riots of March 16, Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner said to the newly named Prefect that “to protect demonstrations is to crush the riots […] I ask you for zero impunity.”

Since Lallement took this position, we have seen a clear shift in law enforcement strategies in the Parisian streets: numerous preventive searches and controls on the outskirts of demonstrations; more mobile police units on the ground; immediate use of tear gas and rubber bullets as soon as the first clashes erupt; police breaking marches up into several parts and kettling them; and a free pass from the executive power for police to engage in hand-to-hand confrontations. All of these have increased the level of repression and violence during demonstrations.

Some radicals and yellow vesters were determined to make Paris the new capital city of rioting for the 2019 May Day celebration. The government took all possible precautions to keep the situation under its control. May Day was a test to see if the new law enforcement approach would work.

To this end, the government decided to think big. About 7400 police units would be deployed in the streets of Paris. “Mobility, responsiveness, prevention of violence, and the systematic arrest of troublemakers” were the main guidelines given by the Minister of the Interior, who said that the authorities were expecting between “1000 and 2000 radical activists” and that the latter could “possibly be reinforced by individuals from abroad who might try to sow disorder and violence. They could be joined by thousands of what are now called ultra-yellow, yellow vesters who have gradually become radicalized.” Official statements like this highlight the typical strategy via which governments seek to construct both domestic and foreign enemies during political crises in order to legitimize their reactionary and authoritarian measures.

In order to maximize their control over the situation, the authorities also designated several restricted areas, as they have during yellow vests demonstrations, and canceled or relocated several events scheduled for May Day. A march against climate change that was supposed to join up with the traditional afternoon demonstration was simply canceled by authorities. This cancelation could be related to the fact that a call was made to create an offensive bloc during this morning march. A yellow vest demonstration scheduled for the morning was also canceled, then eventually assigned a new route. Finally, the traditional anarchist procession that takes place every May Day was also rerouted.

Officially, the government justified these prohibitions by saying that they were too close to restricted areas. We believe that by containing morning demonstrations to several distinct districts of Paris and preventing any connections between these actions and the traditional May Day march, the authorities aimed to control the waves of demonstrators so they could implement their new law enforcement strategies and carry out preventive searches, controls, and arrests upstream of the afternoon gathering.

Another strategic advantage the authorities had for May Day was the fact that they were the ones to set the route of the afternoon May Day march. This year, the procession was supposed to leave Montparnasse in order to reach Place d’Italie, following an approximately 4 km long route—relatively short for a Parisian demonstration—through major empty boulevards. For the occasion, authorities asked the 584 shops located along the route to remain closed for the day and to barricade their front windows. The afternoon demonstration was obviously a trap set by authorities: large boulevards where the crowd of protesters could easily be surrounded and attacked by police forces; few targets for rioters, except at the beginning of the demonstration near Montparnasse and in the Boulevard de l’Hôpital; and the now-traditional conclusion at a major square where police could trap every demonstrator in a large kettle.

In addition, as usual before May Day, Christophe Castaner and Laurent Nuñez—Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior—met with trade union leaders. The latter shared their concerns about possible acts of violence during the demonstration and discussed law enforcement strategies and possible alternatives with the authorities. To reassure trade unionists, Castaner held a press conference to announce that: “our first responsibility is to guarantee the right to demonstrate freely, and to demonstrate while being protected.”

One article explains that, at this same meeting, the authorities told the trade unions of their intention to attack the head of the procession at some point during the march—somewhere between the intersection with Boulevard Raspail and Rue de la Glacière. To make this easy, they asked trade unions to disassociate themselves from the cortège de tête and to continue to demonstrate via an alternative route. According to the article, the trade unions seem to have rejected the offer, since some of their sympathizers are usually present at the head of the demonstration.

However, we personally remained unconvinced by the trade unions’ response, as at numerous occasions in the past, they have showed their true faces by voluntarily disassociating themselves from the rest of the demonstration, confronting demonstrators who are less obedient and passive than themselves, or using the very same discourse as the authorities to denigrate rebellious actions and individuals. Let’s make this clear: in France, there is absolutely no doubt that there is complicity between trade union leaders and the defenders of the existing order. Yet again, the events of May Day 2019 confirmed this.

On the eve of May Day, tensions ran high. No one knew how the situation in the streets would turn out. Several comrades discussed strategies, concerns, and determination with lundimatin in an article entitled “May Day Demonstration: What to Expect from the ‘Black Bloc’?” Others, in an optimistic and passionate text, suggested that May Day 2019 would be the day when “everything would be possible!” Everyone agreed on one thing: the following day would be decisive, despite the suffocating law enforcement strategy that was waiting for us. The main question was whether we could succeed in thwarting the trap set by the government.

[fangirlshameblog]

@sleeplessandstubborn By day, they patrol the Indian Ocean. By night they solve crimes.

[stolenfireandice]

I want a sandwich with them

[deylord]

Où est Steve ?