A woman holds a poster which reads “No to jail, Yes to legitimate self-defence” in Nice September 16, 2013. Reuters/Eric Gaillard
OFrance’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls has waded into the fray of a growing debate on self-defense, defending the arrest of jeweler Stephen Turk after he shot and killed a fleeing thief, 19-year-old Anthony Asli, on September 11. The vocal backlash to Turk’s arrest comes amid persistent security concerns in France, particularly along the Riviera, which was targeted by a string of jewel robberies this summer. In a record heist, a lone gunman made off with $136 million in jewels from a Cannes hotel in July.
Turk’s rare stand has garnered him over 1.6 million “likes” on a Facebook page established in his defense and a growing circle of supporters, hundreds of whom turned out for a support rally on Tuesday. The same day, Nice storeowners shut their businesses in protest of his arrest. The debate on legitimate self-defense — or, depending on your perspective, vigilante violence — while acutely familiar to Americans, is less fraught and ingrained in contemporary France, where gun ownership is far less prevalent than in the U.S.(19 million privately owned firearms, compared to the approximately 300 million stateside.)
Yet Valls finds himself in a familiar position: defender of controversial government policies in an attempt to deflect criticisms of beleaguered President Hollande. In July, this meant defending a ban on public full-face veils after a weekend of riots in the Parisian suburb of Trappes, which was blamed by far right-wing party the Front National on Hollande’s lax approach to security.
It’s worth noting that the increasingly FN has already ridden safety concerns to some limited ballot box success: in 2002, founder Jean-Marie Le Pen seized on the case of Paul Voise, an elderly man badly burned in an arson fire at his home. Analysts credit Voise as a key (albeit involuntary) factor in Le Pen’s strong showing in the first round of presidential elections, nudging out Socialist candidate Lional Jospin.
Could Turk play a similar role? Perhaps. With municipal elections approaching — and the 2018 presidency in current leader Marine Le Pen’s crosshairs — the FN is once more capitalizing on insecurity, holding its annual convention on September 14, in Marseilles, currently roiled by gang wars and growing anti-Muslim sentiment. Now, the elder Le Pen has lent his support to the Nice jeweler, stating “I would have done the same” as Turk. Look for his daughter, a consummate strategist behind the FN’s recent reboot, to add to the chorus soon enough.
