Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau warned that French society is devolving into a “barbarian factory” after the fatal stabbing of a female education assistant outside of a school in Nogent on Tuesday.
A 14-year-old boy was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly stabbing a 31-year-old school supervisor during a knife bag check at the Françoise Dolto middle school.
According to Le Figaro, the suspect, whose identity has been withheld from the public due to his age, is said to have been previously involved in violence at the school, including punching another student in the face and attempting to strangle another. In contrast, the victim, identified only as Mélanie, was said to have been “gentleness personified” and was “very kind”.
Commenting on the latest horrific attack, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said per broadcaster LCI: “Either there is a hypothesis of mental health or it is something else and we fall into barbarism… This society of laxity has sometimes engendered a barbarian factory.”
Taking a similar line, Laurent Marcangeli, Minister of Public Action, said: “The Government has an obligation to deliver results in the face of the barbarization of society, which is destroying families and claiming ever more victims. Schools must remain a sanctuary for our children, and the Republic must protect its public officials, who are on the front lines of violence.”
In the wake of the attack, President Emmanuel Macron called for the banning of children under the age of 15 from social media platforms. Meanwhile, Prime Minister François Bayrou suggested to “experiment” with weapon detecting gates at the entrances of schools and to tighten regulations on carrying certain forms of knives.
However, Interior Minister Retailleau openly contradicted his PM, noting that such gates “cannot detect a ceramic knife,” and saying that “the response cannot be solely security-based” but rather one based on societal “authority and absolute firmness.”
While Retailleau, who is one of the most conservative members of the Macron government, has taken a stronger line on issues such immigration and crime, opposition leader Marine Le Pen accused the Interior Minister of failing to deliver results.
In an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche over the weekend, Le Pen said: “What worries me is that some praise Mr. Retailleau simply because he is right-wing – as they did yesterday with Mr. Barnier.
“It doesn’t matter that he pursues a lax policy, we find excuses for him. I can’t find any for him. Nothing shows that the deterioration of the country–insecurity, impunity, deregulated immigration–has been stopped. We could have expected a real direction, strong actions. There are only words. And words don’t stop thugs or criminals. If we don’t stop them, if we don’t expel them if necessary, if we don’t stop welcoming them onto our soil, they won’t stop.”
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