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PARIS — The great-nephew of France’s first lady Brigitte Macron was beaten up in what appears to have been a politically motivated attack, sparking widespread condemnation in the country.
30-year-old Jean-Baptiste Trogneux was assaulted by anti-government protesters outside the family’s famed chocolate shop in the northern city of Amiens on Monday evening. Three individuals and a minor are expected to be presented to judges on Wednesday over the attack that left Trogneux with injuries to the head, arms and legs.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the assault “unacceptable” and said that “violence has no place in democracy … in any form.” In a rare statement, his wife Brigitte expressed solidarity with her family and condemned the “cowardice, stupidity and violence” of the attack. “I have on several occasions denounced this kind of violence that can only lead to the worst,” she added.
The incident took place shortly after Macron gave an interview on French television during which he defended his decision to force through his unpopular pensions reform bill. According to the father of the victim, Jean-Alexandre Trogneux, Jean-Baptiste was surrounded by protesters who insulted “the president, his wife and his family” before attacking him physically, AFP reported.
Brigitte Macron’s family has run the Jean Trogneux chocolate shop in the center of her home city of Amiens for generations.
On Wednesday, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Trogneux was “undoubtedly” attacked over his links to the presidential couple, in an interview with France Inter.
The attack has sparked widespread condemnation across the political spectrum in France, amid existing concerns about violence against politicians with the rise of the far right and far left in France.
Eric Ciotti, president of the conservative party Les Républicains party, tweeted “no to violence and terror” and condemned “with resolve this unbearable attack.”
Some politicians however expressed their sympathies but did not hold back from criticizing the French president over his handling of the pensions reform.
François Ruffin, a far-left MP from the France Unbowed party, told French television that the attack “was serious and unacceptable” but added that Macron “had a responsibility” for the atmosphere of violence in the country because France faces “a political crisis [and] a democratic crisis.”
Nationwide protests and strikes have rocked France for months over Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age to 64 from 62, which is set to come into effect later this year.
