With the three days of national mourning declared by the President of the Republic having just ended, the time has come for the former Senator Mayor of Nice and the former Deputy Mayor in charge of events to solemnly address the Mayor of Nice and the President of the Metropolis to ask several legitimate questions in order to inform the people of Nice and in memory of the victims:
1: On what date did the Mayor of Nice and the President of the Metropolis request authorization from the State, during this period of State of Emergency, to hold an event with more than 30,000 people on the Promenade des Anglais, as an exception to the general ban on all public gatherings across the national territory?
2: What risk assessment was carried out for the spectators by the Mayor and his first deputy in charge of security, and with the assistance of which security experts, to request this authorization to organize the fireworks display with more than 30,000 people?
3: When and in what form was the State’s authorization given to the City Hall and the Metropolis?
4: On what grounds did the Mayor, his first deputy in charge of security, and the President of the Metropolis decide to maintain this major event, despite the national situation, the country’s maximum exposure to terrorist risks, and the insufficient security measures?
5: Why, among the measures taken comparable to a neighborhood fair, did the city and the Metropolis not decide to install concrete barriers at the entrances to the Promenade, turned into a pedestrian zone, to prevent breaches—barriers which are indeed placed in winter to prevent the invasion of the plains of the Var by traveler caravans—especially when the first deputy in charge of security and President of the Metropolis rightly pointed out that one of the methods recommended by DAESH on social networks, of which he was aware, was precisely the use of ramming vehicles to cause death?
6: Why, when the Municipal Police comprises 500 officers, were only 42 officers, less than 10%, mobilized to oversee an event organized by the City Hall and the Metropolis that gathered more than 30,000 people?
7: Who was the direct municipal authority in charge of directing the security control center of the event on the evening of July 14th and with what directives?
8: Why did the Urban Supervision Center, which manages video surveillance and has cost tens of millions of euros with more than a thousand cameras across the city of Nice, not detect, identify, and control a 19-ton white truck circulating in Nice on July 12th, 13th, and 14th outside of delivery hours and in violation of the municipal decree?
9: Why does the first deputy in charge of security and President of the Metropolis, who questioned the government about the inadequacy of State resources deployed during the July 14th fireworks, considered very insufficient and notably lower than those implemented for the Carnival and the Euro football event, not explain his decision to nevertheless maintain the organization of the fireworks, in the presence of more than 30,000 people?
Jacques Peyrat and Jean-Claude Mari
