Macron, Mélenchon, Le Pen : enhanced security in Lyon – Le Figaro

Three presidential candidates are meeting in the capital of the Gauls. More than 500 policemen were mobilized.

This is a weekend under high political tension that takes place in the capital of the Gauls. Three major events of the presidential campaign takes place simultaneously this Saturday and this Sunday, in a secure environment and taut, full state of emergency. Marine Le Pen was announced for a long time, “Foundation presidential” organized during two days are the occasion to present the work of its teams and unrolling the program that it will submit to the vote of the French. The meeting, which will be held in a convention Center with an amphitheater capable of accommodating 3000 leaders and activists frontistes, could be disrupted. The prefecture confirmed that a demonstration organized by the mainstream anti-fascist is expected Saturday, with the announced goal of disrupting political events. The extreme left will not only target Marine Le Pen, as Emmanuel Macron also needs to raise tens of thousands of his supporters at the Palace of sports. And, the next day, it is Je an-Luc Mélenchon, who will be meeting in front of more than 10,000 supporters, according to the number of registered on-line.

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Aware of the electric atmosphere that could earn the city centre of Lyon, on this occasion, Jean-Luc Mélenchon warned at the beginning of January, after the announcement of the holding of its meeting, that he will “désolidarisait in advance of any event other than the pacific” that could occur. Frictions may indeed appear in some inner-city areas, where the networks of identity have pinion on street. Besides the chance encounters between groups of activists whose ideas are diametrically opposed.

“We are in a state of alert, vigilant but serene”

This explosive cocktail has of course not escaped the services of the prefecture, who have given an instruction to each campaign team to ensure its internal security. The teams of each candidate will align a service order strengthened and will need to ensure that the controls to use in times of security threat, in the aftermath of the terrorist attack which targeted the military in the Louvre in Paris.

For this, which is on the outskirts of these meetings policies, a device 550 police officers has been planned, including 350 units of mobile gendarmes and CRS together. “There are different cases: Macron and Mélenchon will try to get the most possible world, where the two days organized by the FN aim to bring together a reduced number of executives and journalists,” notes Christelle Monteagudo, in charge of communication in prefecture

“We are in a state of alert, vigilant but serene. The biggest risk is of a terrorist. The meetings are targets, especially in the campaign period, even if no specific alert is escalated to this topic,” to know his side the entourage of the mayor of Lyon, Gérard Collomb. The municipal police will, of course, on the alert, “without excessive worry in a big city, which regularly hosts such events,” added t-it.