A group of young people savagely attacked government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot, her deputy, and a party activist in Meudon, southwest of Paris, while they were hanging up election posters.
Attacks on other political campaigners have occurred all around France, which reflects the fervent political atmosphere with the far-right National Rally (RN) leading the race.
It is unclear why Ms. Thevenot and her coworkers were attacked, but Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who denounced “attacks of intolerable cowardice,” accompanied her back to Meudon on Thursday.
Photos taken from an apartment building showed young people clustering around the candidate, Virginie Lanlo, her deputy, and a party activist for the Ensemble alliance, which is led by President Emmanuel Macron.
Ms. Thevenot stated to the Le Parisien website that “they immediately attacked one of my activists, injuring Virginie” when she and her colleagues objected to the adolescents vandalizing party banners. Ms. Lanlo sustained an arm injury, and the activist ended up with a broken jaw after being struck by a scooter and punched. The scooter also broke through the windscreen of the automobile.
The event was swiftly denounced by politicians of all stripes, and three teens and a guy in his 20s were taken into custody by the police.
