Two people were arrested today in Drome, in southeastern France, after the head of state, Emmanuel Macron, was slapped in the face during a mob. The president is currently engaged in a series of visits to various regions of the country. Taken up by some present and posted on social networks, the incident was confirmed by the Elysée.
The man who slapped Macron had just before described himself as an “anarchist” in the newspaper Quotidien, reports Le Figaro. The man shouted the battle cry of the Capetians, the followers of Ugo Capeto, third dynasty of the kings of France: «Montjoie! Saint-Denis! ». A moment before striking the French president he also seems to have said: “Down with macronism.”
From what can be seen from the video circulating on the web, Macron – who was visiting Tain-l’Hermitage and had just left a hotel school – was moving away from the crowd held behind the barriers and was about to re-enter the car that awaited him. Seeing the people calling him, he went back to the barriers and the first man he went to grabbed him by the arm and slapped him (right hand to left cheek).
He was immediately stopped and placed in custody – along with a second person close to him – by the president’s security men. The images then shoot the president who approaches the crowd to continue talking with those present. Macron, the Elysée said, then continued the visit.
We need a “republican jolt, the foundations of our democracy are at stake,” says French Prime Minister Jean Castex about the slap in the face of the president. «Democracy is debate, dialogue, confrontation, legitimate disagreements. But it cannot in any way be violence, verbal aggression and even less physical aggression », Castex added, commenting on the episode at the National Assembly.