Attack and murder at Village Winter Ball in France; seven arrests this afternoon.

I have been trying to piece together this rather nasty raid, which had some of the hall marks of a razzia, although no young women were carried off, merely abused. I can’t see that anyone is declaring it to be jihad or Islamic terror yet, although those who were there say it was a racist anti-white attack, but when dealing with the maghreb can the two be really separated?

I’ll start with the simple  English language report from The Telegraph

‘Bloodbath’ at French village fete as youths from deprived suburb kill 16-year-old
The Telegraph is using fete in the French sense, a celebration or party, not the English one of an exhibition of work and cakes.

A rural village in southern France is in shock after a group of young delinquents from a deprived suburb attacked a village fete and killed a 16-year-old boy. The village of Crépol in Drôme was holding its “fete de village”, an annual or biannual celebration, on Saturday night with around 450 of the 500 residents attending. Other reports call it the ‘Bal d’Hiver’, or winter ball.  A respectable all age family type of celebration. 

As the fete began winding down at 2am, a group of youths arrived, some carrying knives. When a security guard barred their entry, they attacked him, slicing through his fingers. Some reports say his fingers were actually chopped off; I hope that’s a matter of translation.  

One witness told Le Parisien: “There was a fight between the assailants and those who were brave enough to face them.” “It was a bloodbath,” said another.

In the commotion, two men aged 23 and 28 were seriously injured and later hospitalised in a “critical” condition. One had been stabbed several times in the throat. A third injured individual was in a stable condition on Monday. One teenager, known only as Thomas, a 16-year-old and keen rugby player, was fatally stabbed.

Laurent de Caigny, prosecutor of Valence, said police suspected they came to “settle a score” with a person present that night, without providing more details.

Martine Lagut, the mayor, said the town was “traumatised” by the apparently unprovoked attack. “A gang turned up to kill,” she told Le Dauphiné libéré newspaper. “They didn’t come to have fun but to harm.”

Several witnesses have corrected the press description of the attack as a ‘brawl’ or in French une rixe. From Le Monde 

La porte-parole de la gendarmerie …refusant d’employer le terme de « rixe » « Une rixe, ce sont deux groupes de jeunes qui ont décidé de prendre rendez-vous et de s’affronter, ici, on n’est pas dans cette configuration-là », a-t-elle dit.

 « Ce n’était pas une rixe mais une attaque : ils sont venus avec l’envie de tuer », s’est émue Josette Place, une retraitée membre du comité des fêtes jointe par l’AFP mardi.

The spokesperson for the national gendarmerie … refusing to use the term “brawl“. A fight is two groups of young people who decided to make an appointment and confront each other, here, we are not in that configuration ,” she said.

 “It was not a brawl but an attack: they came with the desire to kill ,” said Josette Place, a retired member of the festival committee contacted by AFP on Tuesday.

From the New York Post

Authorities said all of the injured partygoers were between 16 and 65 years old, ACTU17 reported.

So they were not gatecrashers – people who want to join the party don’t turn up at 2.30 am as the event has ended. If they have a grudge or a gang dispute against one individual then stabbing and killing that many men, of such an age range, is a rather a lot for a case of mistaken identity.  That at least one man was stabbed through the throat is significant, in my opinion.

Other witness reports are circulating on social media, along with photographs said to be of the attackers. This should have made it easier for the police to identify them; hence todays arrests.  Local newspaper Le Dauphine Libere says

Le ministre de l’Intérieur, Gérald Darmanin, a annoncé ce mardi après-midi, lors des questions au gouvernement, qu’il y a eu sept interpellations « dans les environs de Toulouse »

Selon les informations du Dauphiné Libéré, les sept suspects ont été interpellés sur un même site par les gendarmes de l’unité d’élite du groupe d’intervention de la gendarmerie nationale (GIGN) avec l’appui d’un groupe d’observation surveillance (GOS). . . Les auteur de ces faits seront jugés par une cour d’assises

The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, has just announced this Tuesday afternoon, during questions to the government, that there have been seven arrests “in the vicinity of Toulouse” The perpetrators of these acts will be tried by an assize court.

According to information from the Dauphiné Libéré, the seven suspects were arrested on the same site by gendarmes from the elite unit of the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) with the support of a surveillance observation group (GOS).

These are the tweets from French sources alleging a racial motive. The source is another report from Le Dauphine Libere, but behind their subscriber paywall. 

“on est la pour planter des Blancs” I am translating as “We have come to smash the whites”

These are said to be photographs of the raiders inside the village hall. If correct then they fit the description men of North African appearance.

Finally there are reports of men with Algerian names tweeting in celebration “Joyeux Thomas” which does not bode well.

I’ll keep watching to see how much information the French press are allowed to report as the legal proceedings begin.