2023 fatal knife attack in France
On 19 November 2023, a mass stabbing took place in Crépol, Drôme, France. One person, 16-year-old Thomas Perotto, was killed. During the incident, two other victims aged 23 and 28 were seriously injured and placed in emergency care, while fourteen other people suffered minor injuries. An investigation into "homicide and attempted homicide in an organized gang" was opened; in the days that followed nine people were arrested in Toulouse and Romans-sur-Isère on suspicion of being the perpetrators.
The case received national media and political attention, with President Emmanuel Macron and the government responding to statements made by political opponents, as well as paying tribute to Perotto at the National Assembly. The attack caused a media frenzy and multiple far-right rallies, after it was reported that the attackers yelled "We're here to kill the whites!"
Events.
The festival committee of Crépol, a village in the Drôme department with a population of about 500, organizes an annual "winter ball" attended by many people from the surrounding area. Nearly 400 people took part in the festivities scheduled for Saturday, November 18, 2023.
According to the initial account, which was called into question by the Grenoble gendarmes' investigation and by testimonies in the press, at the end of the evening, at around 1:30 am, a group of around ten individuals made their way to the ball, just as the evening was drawing to a close and the participants were leaving the village hall. The individuals were refused entry by a security guard because they had not registered for the evening. After searching them, the security guard noticed that the individuals were carrying knives "20 to 25 centimeters long"; the situation escalated and he was wounded in the hand.
In the aftermath, several witnesses reported that the attackers, who came to the village with knives, yelled "We're here to kill the whites!" According to one witness, these individuals "came to kill". Those armed with knives attacked guests, stabbing them, while others threw projectiles such as stones or fences. Nine victims were stabbed with knives. One, Thomas Perotto, died. Two others, aged 23 and 28, were treated as absolute emergencies, while six suffered minor injuries. Eight other people were treated by the fire department in a state of shock. Once the attack had been committed, the assailants left the scene before help arrived.
Victims.
Born on 6 December 2006 in Romans-sur-Isère, Thomas Perotto was a member of the RC Romanais Péageois XV rugby team and attended the Lycée du Dauphiné in Romans-sur-Isère. He was accompanied by one of his older brothers for the evening. Perotto was stabbed in the heart and throat by a knife. Taken care of by the fire department and medically treated in Romans, he was airlifted to Lyon, but died during the transfer.
Investigation.
The case was handed over to the Valence public prosecutor's office, led by Laurent de Caigny, who spoke of a "planned expedition" by the perpetrators. The Valence public prosecutor's decision to classify the murders and attempted murders as part of an organized gang meant that police custody was extended for up to 96 hours. Investigations are being carried out by the Grenoble Research Unit.
However, the initial hearings of the suspects and new testimonies nuanced this initial account and moved away from the description of a coordinated group out to do battle. It would appear that at least some of the individuals designated as the assailants were actually present at the party. A rugby player friend of Perotto allegedly provoked one of them by pulling his hair and calling him "Tchikita" (named after a song by the singer Jul), leading to a brawl that degenerated into further violence.
Three days after the event, on the outskirts of Toulouse, the GIGN and the Toulouse Observation and Surveillance Group arrested seven people, including three minors, as they fled their homes. At the same time, two other people were arrested in Romans. All nine were natives of Romans, with the exception of one from Italy. On the same Thursday, 23 November 2023, five searches in connection with the case took place in the Monnaie district of Romans, known for its problems of delinquency and insecurity, against a backdrop of drug trafficking.
The main suspect, Chaïd Akabli, suspected of being the perpetrator of the fatal stabbing, had left his residence in downtown Romans, his hometown, following the incident. He had previously been convicted of handling stolen goods and fined for "carrying a category D stabbing or incapacitating weapon without legitimate reason", with a "two-year ban on holding or carrying a weapon", which was served on him on 25 September 2023. However, his direct involvement in the death is in doubt: the witness who had identified him from a photograph did not recognize him during a line-up, and other clues and testimonies pointed investigators towards another individual. According to some media reports, the people arrested in Toulouse were planning to flee to North Africa via Spain.
In the days that followed, even after the suspects had been taken into custody, the Valence public prosecutor's office, the only one authorized to communicate on the case, kept the names of the assailants under wraps, apparently due to the ongoing investigation. The first name of one of the main suspects, Chaïd, was published online by a national daily newspaper, "Le Figaro", during the period of police custody, followed by the first names of those over the age of majority in police custody.
By 25 November, French police investigators had gathered more than a hundred eyewitness accounts.
5 December "Le Parisien" article.
An investigation posted on the website of "Le Parisien" on the evening of 4 December and published in the newspaper's columns on 5 December 2023, based on elements of the Grenoble Gendarmes investigation, doubted the idea of a deliberate attack, and leans more towards a brawl that degenerated, against a background of prior tensions, between young people who had spent an evening together. According to the investigation, tensions existed between youths from the Romans-sur-Isère housing estate and young rugby players from the village of Crépol. Anti-white" comments were heard by witnesses, several of whom heard the assailants say they wanted to "kill white people", as well as comments made by a young man from Crépol, believed to have instigated the altercation, announcing that he "wanted to beat up bougnoules".
Defense.
On 6 December, the lawyer for four of the defendants explained that the context of the brawl was very chaotic in order to understand the course of events. He describes how one of his clients was beaten up before the situation completely degenerated, with "50 people fighting, in semi-darkness".
Aftermath and reactions.
March and funeral for Thomas Perotto.
On Wednesday, 22 November 2023, a march gathered more than 6,000 people in the streets of Romans, in tribute to Perotto, with the presence of his family and loved ones, including friends from the high school. Many of Perotto's teammates from his XV rugby club, RC Romanais-Péageois, were also present, as well as students from the Lycée du Dauphiné, where the victim attended school. At 2pm on Monday, 20 November, a minute's silence was observed at the school. Philippe Saint-André, former coach of the French rugby union team Philippe Saint-André, himself a native of Romans, who played for the same club and took part in the same ball at the same age as Thomas Perotto, expressed his sorrow, denouncing an "increasingly violent world ... [where] education has been forgotten". France team captain Antoine Dupont and one of the team's leaders Grégory Alldritt honor Thomas Perotto's memory by sharing an Instagram post from RC Romans-Péage. The President of the French Rugby Federation, Florian Grill, said "It is all of rugby which is in mourning and which salutes Thomas at the same time as the whole nation. More than ever, the values of respect and fraternity that rugby embodies are essential to society. Thomas embodies them more than ever", and it was decided that a minute's silence in memory of Thomas Perotto would precede all French rugby union matches taking place over the weekend of 25 to 29 October.
Perotto's mother expressed her distress in "Paris Match" magazine on 21 November and hoped that the investigation would identify all the perpetrators, saying "Who comes to a party with knives? They wanted to fight. I hope the gendarmes will quickly find out who did it. It won't bring him back, but at least it'll stop them from doing any more... murders. Yes, it's a murder they've committed".
On the evening of Thursday, 23 November, the Crépol parish organized a vigil with the agreement of the Perotto family, where 400 people gathered with prayers and songs. Sheets of paper were laid out for participants to write a note. Thomas Perotto's funeral is held on Friday, November 24, 2023 at the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul collegiate church in Saint-Donat-sur-l'Herbasse, with outdoor speakers installed to broadcast the ceremony. The family's tribute is read out by his grandfather in front of almost 2,000 people: in his message, he expects a firm verdict from the courts against the perpetrators, a "gang of hooligans with a knife for a heart", thanks the police for having quickly found the perpetrators, and pays tribute to the memory of his late grandson.
Political response.
Local politicians were quick to react. The mayor of Crépol, Martine Lagut, declared: "I feel depressed, because it's not normal for things like this to happen in our small rural villages. It's a tragedy we're living through, and our village is very much affected by this event. It's gratuitous violence, it was very brutal and very violent". On 29 November, she stated that the victims' families were "asking that the racist nature of the attack be retained".
The mayor of Valence, Nicolas Daragon, stated he hoped that "the attackers, whoever they are, wherever they are, will be found quickly, put out of action and handed over to the courts, whose decision I expect to be as severe as it is exemplary".
The mayor of Romans-sur-Isère, Marie-Hélène Thoraval, believed that the murder was "racist" in nature. She blames what she considers to be a "culture" of delinquency in the Monnaie district of her town, and accuses the suspects' parents of having passed it on to them. Called a "fascist", she was subsequently placed under police protection after receiving several death threats by decapitation, which led her to lodge a complaint. Residents of the Monnaie district who felt stigmatized by the mayor's remarks demonstrated against her on December 2, 2023, despite a ban issued by the prefecture.
At the beginning of 2024, Thoraval received yet another death threat because of her stance following Thomas' death. One of the individuals who had threatened her was sentenced in December to eight months' imprisonment for "outrages by word or threat", while another who had threatened her with decapitation was remanded in custody.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of a "terrible assassination" and an "aggression that has marked us all", speaking on the subject at a conference of mayors at the Élysée Palace.
Some denounced the attack as a "raid" carried out by "an armed militia" (Marine Le Pen), a "francocide" (Éric Zemmour), and denounced the perpetrators as "scum", a term echoed by the president of the Republicans party, Éric Ciotti, who called for "implacable justice". Bruno Retailleau, also of The Republicans party, advocates a "judicial revolution" to punish the perpetrators. Gérald Darmanin, the French Minister of the Interior, called for a "general collapse of our society" and evoking a turning point in "ensauvagement". On 27 November 2023, government spokesman Olivier Véran, at the suggestion of the mayor of Crépol, went to meet elected representatives, firefighters, police officers and residents to discuss the matter and "tell them that we are at their side", adding that he hoped for "very heavy sentences". Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said those denying the existence of anti-white racism are "blind", or choosing "not to see it". Senate Majority Leader Bruno Retailleau went further, stating: "We must also get to the root of the evil, that is to say immigration", pointing towards the suspects' cultural backgrounds.
On the left, Communist Party national secretary Fabien Roussel stated he deplored "a society where acts of this type are happening more and more" and France insoumise deputy François Ruffin denounced "gratuitous, unbridled, cruel violence", while Finance Committee chairman and France insoumise representative Éric Coquerel refused to talk of ensauvagement and said this type of brawl was not