Franck Louvrier, mayor of La Baule (Loire-Atlantique), received death threats in early May, reports Ouest-France on Friday May 26. Mayor Les Républicains said he received an anonymous three-page letter with two photos of the decapitated head of teacher Samuel Paty and a photo of the bodies from the Bataclan attack, under which it was written in red "soon in La Baule? “, he detailed, specifying that this had never happened to him before.
He chose to reveal this information during the city council on Friday. "I was hesitant to talk about it publicly but given the climate at the time, I felt it was my duty to come out with it," he said. "The tricolor scarf does not protect more than the blouse or the uniform and it is a sign that our democracy is very sick", he added, calling for exemplary sanctions "when these acts affect police officers, nurses, firefighters or elected officials".
After receiving this letter, in which the three photos took up a lot of space, the mayor immediately informed the municipal police. Very shortly after, Mr. Louvrier says he received a call from the prefect, the sub-prefect and the public prosecutor. The Nantes judicial police were seized and went to La Baule to interview the people who had received this letter. The investigation is still ongoing, according to the elected official.
Series of acts of intimidation
"Intimidation is more and more present in the daily lives of elected officials," continued the man who was Nicolas Sarkozy's communications adviser at the Elysée Palace, denouncing "those who trivialize racism or those who want to question the functioning of our institution". "We are within reach of violent act and foul play when we were within reach of a slap," he said.
Mr. Louvrier recalls several precedents in the Loire-Atlantique department: the very recent resignation of the mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, Yannick Morez, after the arson attack which affected part of his house, the suicide of Hervé Neau, the mayor of Rezé, in 2022, victim of malicious letters or, in 2000, a parcel bomb targeting Christophe Priou, the mayor of Le Croisic, whose explosion had killed a technical services employee.
