The UMP deputy-mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, has filed a complaint for incitement to racial hatred after a book signing session in Paris for his book was disrupted by around ten men chanting Islamophobic slogans, he announced (see our article from yesterday).
According to the elected official, he was signing his book “Fils de Nice” in a bookstore in the 7th arrondissement of Paris when around 6:00 PM, he found himself “surrounded by about ten individuals who produced signs with the phrase ‘Enough of mosques in Nice!’” “Their behavior was violent and aggressive,” the table upon which he was signing his books “was overturned,” explained the deputy, adding that the group was “chased away by police officers” passing through the neighborhood. Christian Estrosi filed a complaint for physical and verbal threats and incitement to racial hatred.
In fact, young people claiming to be “Niçois in exile, friends or lovers of Nice” intervened noisily but “peacefully” to hold him accountable for his violations of the principle of secularism and his support for the opening of new mosques in Nice.
After reviewing the events, it appears that, while Christian Estrosi has every right to sign his book without being disturbed and addressed by young troublemakers and provocateurs (whatever their reasons for acting), it is neither useful nor responsible to exaggerate as he did in his statement.
A few slogans and a few leaflets thrown in the air do not constitute “violent and aggressive behavior,” and apparently no table was “overturned.” Ultimately, a highly unpleasant episode for which the perpetrators are of course censurable.
Let’s say Christian Estrosi (as a simple citizen in this case) acted like seasoned football players: At the first contact, he let himself fall to play the victim and exploit the circumstance for notoriety purposes, which he certainly does not lack. It’s uncertain he succeeded in his ploy, as the episode certainly does not deserve all this attention, nor this disproportionate reaction.
The sense of responsibility should encourage de-escalation, especially when emotions are already heightened as they are currently, rather than giving publicity to provocateurs who are only seeking that.
For Philippe Vardon from the collective Islamisation Basta and leader of Nissa Rebela: “We also read that there were 40 people queuing who were jostled, or that the ‘intruders’ had ‘forced their way in.’
Everything in this account is false! The all-male group, the encirclement and aggression, the overturned table, the group chased away by police, and even the 40 people…
The problem for Christian Estrosi is that everything was filmed, and even from multiple angles! I have also contacted the police, offering to provide them with the same video which would prevent a pointless investigation into Mr. Estrosi’s fantasies. Besides, no confirmation of the reality of this complaint has been provided to me.”
