Darmanin slams mob fireworks attack on Paris suburban police station

French interior minister Gérald Darmanin has criticised those responsible for an attack on a suburban Paris police station using a barrage of fireworks. 

France's interior minister Gerald Darmanin condemned the attack on a police station on the outskirts of Paris. © AFP/Ludovic Marin

Around 40 people staged the assault on Sunday morning on the station entrance in Champigny-sur-Marne, around 12 kilometres east of central Paris.

The entrance and several police vehicles were damaged but nobody was injured during the raid.

Darmanin tweeted that security services would not be intimidated.

"These little dealers do not impress anyone and will not discourage our work against narcotics," said Darmanin

Les petits caïds n’impressionnent personne et ne décourageront pas notre travail de lutte contre les stupéfiants. Heureusement aucun blessé dans l’agression visant le commissariat de #Champigny cette nuit. Soutien total à nos policiers qui font un travail difficile.

— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) October 11, 2020

The attack came just a day after Darmanin visited Toulouse with prime minister Jean Castex, justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti and the education secretary Jean-Michel Blanquer to assess the fight against drugs and trafficking in some of the southern city's districts.

Valérie Pécresse, the president of the Ile-de-France region which includes Champigny-sur-Marne, told BFM TV on Sunday that the police station had been identified as at risk.

Reinforcement

"The station had just undergone works to make it more secure with a reinforced entrance porch. And this is what protected the officers because 40 people were outside and if that porch hadn't been there, I'm sure there would have been more injuries."

Police union officials said the attack underscored a growing threat against law enforcement personnel in depressed suburbs of Paris and other large cities.

On Wednesday, two officers were attacked and shot with their own guns just outside Paris.

"What will it take for the government to commit to protecting its security forces?" asked Frédéric Lagache of the Alliance police union on Sunday. "There is no longer any respect for law enforcement, and unfortunately the government has not succeeded in changing this trend."