An investigation for attempted murder has been opened in Chelles, in the Seine-et-Marne department of France, following an attack on a local elected official during ongoing student protests. Angela Pascoa Dos Santos, a regional councilor and deputy mayor of Chelles, was struck in the chest by a closed, full bottle containing a yellow liquid smelling of gasoline. The incident occurred on Tuesday morning outside the Lycée Gaston-Bachelard, where Ms. Dos Santos had arrived alongside parents to mediate a dispute and facilitate the resumption of classes after disruptions caused by the student movement. [2]
Jean-Baptiste Bladier, the prosecutor of Meaux, provided details regarding the physical impact of the attack. He stated that upon impact, the liquid poured over Ms. Dos Santos’s torso, causing her to lose her breath and forcing her to lie on the ground. The severity of the act led authorities to open a formal inquiry for voluntary attempted homicide. Ms. Dos Santos filed a complaint late Tuesday morning, marking the legal escalation of the incident. [1] [2]
Police apprehended three students aged 15 to 17 years old at the scene of the Lycée Gaston-Bachelard. However, the prosecutor clarified that these individuals were not placed in custody specifically in connection with the bottle-throwing incident. As of midday Tuesday, the person who threw the bottle had not yet been identified, and the three detained students were not presented as suspects for this specific assault, though their interpellation relates to broader disturbances at the school. [1] [2]
The attack has drawn sharp condemnation from the highest levels of the French government. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez declared on social media platform X that the situation had moved beyond the scope of student protests, characterizing it instead as urban violence that demands the firmest possible response. He emphasized that such acts require immediate and decisive legal action. [1] [2]
Education Minister Édouard Geffray, speaking during a visit to a middle school in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, labeled the behavior exhibited by the attackers as a crime. He stated that Ms. Dos Santos deserved the support of society and the entire political community. French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed his solidarity with the victim, denouncing the act as one of brutality and intimidation. Macron reiterated that violence has no place in a democracy and called for the perpetrators to be punished with the utmost severity. [1] [2]
Valérie Pécresse, the president of the Île-de-France region and a colleague of Ms. Dos Santos, described the deputy mayor as being 'completely shocked' by the event. Pécresse highlighted a significant escalation in the intensity of violence over the past ten days within the framework of the student mobilization. She reported approximately one hundred mortar attacks, nearly half of which targeted the interiors of educational establishments, resulting in about twenty injuries among staff and students. [1] [2]
Regional authorities estimate the cost of damage to schools at 10 million euros. The attack on Ms. Dos Santos follows a pattern of escalating tensions, including an earlier incident in October where a physics and chemistry teacher was splashed with gasoline and beaten during a protest in La Ciotat, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department. The current events underscore the deepening crisis within the French education system and the increasingly volatile nature of the student demonstrations. [1] [2]
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