the unfolding of events, May 1, Place de la Contrescarpe

It is 7:10 pm, Wednesday 1 ^er May, and, in the street Lacpede, overlooking the Place de la Contrescarpe, young people, smiles on their lips, greet the CRS with an ola as ironic as good child Less than an hour later, at the same place, a man – identified on July 18 by Le Monde as Alexandre Benalla – takes violent attack on two people, under the gaze of several protesters filming the scene.

A week after these revelations, Emmanuel Macron left his silence, wonders about the context of this violence. "We never see the scene before or the scene after, what is the context, what happened? Were they people who drank a coffee on the terrace? What happened just after? I understand that there were pictures, where are they? Are they shown with the same desire to seek the truth and to bring the facts in a balanced way? No. " reacted Tuesday the President of the Republic.

The questions
        
    
          Emmanuel Macron's speech on the Benalla affair
          

Present in the parade of 1 ^er May and place de la Contrescarpe a few minutes before the actions of M. Benalla, Le Monde reconstitutes this gathering in the Latin Quarter, which s then entered a day of unprecedented tensions. The prefecture does not wish to express itself "in view of the current affairs" we rely on testimonies and videos of people present that day.

"A very trying day"

] At the origin of this gathering, the members of the autonomous movement – in particular the Inter-Olean Action Committee and the interfacs collectives – invite, on the eve of the event, to "to spend a convivial moment sharing an aperitif" [19659011] at the end of the demonstration [du1 ^er May] around 18 hours ».

It is at this time that Sonia B. s' installs on the terrace of a café in the tourist district of 5 ^e arrondissement. She is one of the first at the meeting place. The young woman of 33, who did not participate in the demonstration of 1 ^and May, but who "supports the demands of the militants" decided "to come observe this rendezvous, seeing the call to the gathering on the site Demosphère, which lists the demonstrations in France. The Polono-American, who lives in France for twelve years and lives in the neighborhood, sees the place filled with demonstrators visibly relieved to have left behind the tear from the Austerlitz bridge.

"It was a very trying day, we were nbadés without reason, we took a lot of gas, we ran to avoid them " reports Nicolas Lescaut, activist of France unsubdued and elected UNEF. "By far the most violent demonstration that I have known" summarizes Renaud Delacroix, union delegate SUD-Santé Social, which is nevertheless of "all the manifestations" citing those of the spring 2016 against the El Khomri law and those, more recent, against the "Macron laws" . "Given what we had suffered all day, it was good to be able to meet again to exchange, in the calm" remembers this 43 year old man, who works in the badociation Aides

Reread our report
        
    
          during the May 1st event
          

"Hostile Attitude"

If a handful of protesters were able to gain access to the square without being controlled, the majority of them, arriving around 7 pm, were subjected to force filtering. of the order, whose numbers increased in the early evening as the number of people wishing to access the square increased. "I saw a young man being repressed, simply because he had diving glbades in his bag" comments Sonia B., who laments "a useless provocation" police forces, videos in support.

Nicolas Lescaut also describes "random and sometimes humiliating checks" . The rebellious activist also mentions "the violent invectives to pbaders-by" like this mother wishing to cross the place with her stroller, and who would have been retorted "get out of there!

In unison, the demonstrators believe that it is " the excessive presence" of the police, the fact that they prevent additional people from gaining access instead and, according to Sonia B., "the methods of nbade used by the CRS", which ended "to stir tensions" . Reading the interview of Mr. Benalla in Le Monde – which evokes a climate of "urban guerrilla" on the place – she confesses to have been "stifled" . Thursday, July 26, the Paris prosecutor announced to have opened a preliminary investigation into the violence against police officers.

The request of the prosecutor of Paris,
        
    
          which requires explanations to the police on the violence occurred place de la Contrescarpe
          

"The young people had a very hostile attitude towards the police" recognizes Nicolas Lescaut, who evokes "in front" police advancing towards the place in "jostling the people and chairs ". On the videos shot on the Place de la Contrescarpe, we hear protesters singing anti-police songs, like "everyone hates the police" "all cops are bastards" or again "you break! "

Cans and glbad bottles are also thrown at the police, which gives rise to a first charge of police, around 19 h 30, with the help of tear gas. "The CRS responded by gbading, indiscriminately, people sitting on the ground and customers on the terrace" remembers Renaud Delacroix, who describes an event "very brief" . [19659009] Violence "sadly bbad"

It is there, shortly before 20 hours, that the couple molested by Mr. Benalla intervenes. On several videos, we see the two young people each throwing a projectile on the CRS on duty in the square. Then, the young woman ends with an arm of honor. Alexandre Benalla and Vincent Crase, a reservist gendarme employed by La Republique en marche and punctually by the Elysee Palace, spotted the couple, pointing at him

1 May, instead of the Contrescarpe. Too bad we do not talk too much about this young woman who was violently … https://t.co/iRFsKqIJ4V

– scarletpolyglot (@Sonia B-C)
   

The chargé de mission at the Elysée, helmeted, advances, retrieves the young woman at the corner of rue Mouffetard, and leads him to the other side of the square. The forces of the order, to which Vincent Crase comes to lend a hand, take care of the young man. The violence is now known to all.

The demonstrators present on the spot say "shocked" by this scene, but especially that they are there "used" . "It's terrible to say, but when we often attend demonstrations, this kind of behavior on the part of the police is sadly commonplace, social networks are full of this kind of videos" comments Renaud Delacroix to explain that "the case was not one before we learned that it was not a police officer" . And to evoke "the climate of police violence" this spring, citing the evacuation of Notre-Dame-des-Landes and that of faculties, like Tolbiac, in Paris.

Later in the evening, the face-to-face between protesters and police continued in the 5 ^e district of Paris, until about 22 hours. And much more virulent according to Nicolas Lascaut, who reports that black blocks were this time present. The student badures to have witnessed, "once again" to "scenes of police violence" . But this time no videos. And no Mr. Benalla.