a farmer targeted by police

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With a 9 millimeter pistol in his hand, a police officer takes aim at a farmer in his tractor. Around him, two CRS make the same gesture. Three weapons are pointed at the demonstrator before the police enter his cabin. The farmer, aged around thirty, was arrested and then placed in police custody.

It is 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 27, around fifty farmers have just dumped slurry in front of the premises of the newspaper La Dépêche du Midi, in Auch, in the Gers. One farmer interviewed was part of the protest. According to him, his colleague was maneuvering his tractor to clear the road when the officials drew their weapons. “I asked the driver of the tractor to move it forward two meters to park it, so that the firefighters could arrive. And there, they pretended that we wanted to charge at them. It is unacceptable that we can threaten a farmer with three revolvers”takes offense Eric Lasbats, breeder and member of Rural Coordination 32.

A disproportionate reaction in the eyes of farmers. But according to the prefect, the police did indeed act in this way because they felt threatened. “The police asked the person to cut off the engine and get off the tractor, because this person was maneuvering towards the CRS and the police. So there was a reflex perhaps of fear. As soon as the driver cut off the engine and got out, the weapons returned to the holster and the matter ended there.” assures Alain Castanier, prefect of Gers.

Did the civil servants have the right to point their weapons in this context? “Pointing your service weapon at someone must be both necessary and proportionate to the goal to be achieved. If three police officers had the same reaction at the same time simultaneously, this is an indicator which still militates in favor of legitimacy, since all three have the same feeling”says Me Laurent-Franck Lienard, lawyer specializing in the defense of law enforcement.

The Rural Coordination announced that it wanted to contact the IGPN, the General Police Inspectorate. Only the investigation will be able to determine whether the use of these weapons was justified.