The Rouen public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the assault suffered on the night of Saturday, October 31, around 11:30 p.m., by a group of young Catholics near the Docks 76, next to the San Romano fair. Four men around 25 years old, members of a group of ten friends, reported the following day that they were approached and beaten while singing a Catholic hymn in the middle of the street. The complaints were filed for «violence on grounds of race, ethnicity, nation or religion.»
According to the complainants’ account, the perpetrators were about fifteen people dressed in black. Two of them presented emergency certificates from the Rouen university hospital, and the four were referred for a forensic medical examination. The prosecutor’s office notes that the municipal police identified three victims and three witnesses at the scene.
Prosecutor’s proceedings and mayor’s reaction
The investigation has been assigned to the Territorial Crime Division, which is analyzing the area’s CCTV footage and must identify and take statements from the witnesses. The Rouen prosecutor, Sébastien Gallois, stated in a press release that the inquiries «must allow the detailed reconstruction of the course of events,» identify the perpetrators and determine possible motives. No arrests have been reported so far.
For his part, the mayor of Rouen, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, condemned the violence and brought the facts to the attention of the prosecutor in accordance with article 40 of the code of criminal procedure. The mayor suggested that the attack could be linked to the victims’ religious affiliation and maintained that «no difference of belief or conviction could justify them.»
«Anti-white racism» and «gratuitous violence» on CNews
The case has received wide coverage on the CNews channel. Commentator Lara Tchekov stated on the program HDPros2 that «anti-white racism is a social reality and is no longer a fantasy of the far right.» In the same segment, Pascal-Pierre Garbarini expressed outrage at what he described as a «lynching» of Catholics: «It is gratuitous violence,» he said.
Gabrielle Cluzel, on the program Face à l’info, went further by claiming that «Catholic heads, for the far left, are fascist heads.» These are the commentators’ assessments, while the legal classification and motive of the assault remain pending the findings of the investigation. Their interventions can be viewed at Tchekov, Garbarini and Cluzel.