French firefighters in the Alpes-Maritimes department have launched a new video campaign in an effort to stop people attacking them while they are trying to do their job.
The campaign, entitled “Do Not Touch My Firefighter”, was created by the Alpes-Maritimes firefighters union and features several realistic clips showing random acts of violence directed at emergency services workers, broadcaster France Bleu reports.
Pourtant, en 2016, 2 280 #sapeurspompiers ont été victimes d'agression physique en intervention. Un chiffre en progression de 78 % en 7 ans. #TouchePasAMonPompier @PierreFROLLA @udsp06 @sdis_06 pic.twitter.com/TAcnaBviKY
— Alpes-Maritimes (@AlpesMaritimes) March 15, 2018
In one of the clips, a firetruck drives near a crowd of protestors, one of which wears a mask similar to those favoured by far-left Antifa groups. As the firetruck approaches, the extremists throw a firebomb at the firefighters.
Far-left violence toward police and other emergency services has been well documented in France. Just this week, far-left protestors attacked police in Paris during a protest in support of the rail worker’s strike. Last year, during the French presidential election race, members of the far-left group Antifa attempted to set the police on fire with Molotov cocktails and other firebombs.
#TPMP pour #TouchePasAMonPompier pour dénoncer les agressions que subissent nos anges gardiens
Relayons les clips réalisés par @udsp06 avec le soutien de @AlpesMaritimes et #KonioProductions 🚒👨🚒 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/xMRY6pR69p— Alain BERNARD – OLY (@alainbernard) March 16, 2018
In another video, emergency workers are shown entering an apartment where a woman cowers from a man, in what looks like a case of domestic abuse. The man sees the firefighters and runs at them with a knife.
Each of the clips also features ambassadors for the campaign, such as French singer Pricilla and Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Alain Bernard.
The problem of attacks on emergency workers in France was highlighted by the brutal assault of a policewoman in the Paris suburb of Champigny-sur-Marne which was described by some as a “lynching” on New Year’s Eve.
During last year’s riots, following the claim made by a young black man named Theo that police had brutally forced a baton into his anus, police were attacked by a rampaging mob near the Barbes Metro. Earlier this year, CCTV footage and expert testimony cast serious doubt on the account of Theo.
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