“Society must respond to these crimes”: national tribute to gendarme Comyn, killed while refusing to comply

Gérald Darmanin a présidé, lundi, l’hommage rendu au gendarme à Nice. MAXPPP – Cyril Dodergny

The soldier, killed by a repeat offender on August 26 in Mougins, was posthumously promoted to warrant officer, then decorated with the Legion of Honor and in particular the military medal, during a moving ceremony on Monday in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes).

"This driver has no excuse." Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin expressed his "immense anger", on Monday, during the national tribute paid to gendarme Éric Comyn.

A ceremony held in the presence of the soldier's relatives and colleagues, in the courtyard of the Ausseur barracks, in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes). The soldier, killed by a repeat offender on August 26, in Mougins, was posthumously promoted to warrant officer, then decorated with the Legion of Honor and in particular the military medal.

“Éric Comyn saved thousands of lives”

“In his life as a police officer, Éric Comyn saved thousands of lives. Chief Warrant Officer Eric Comyn, the homeland is eternally grateful to you", stressed the resigning minister.

"The reckless driver killed a representative of the State and, as such, he is murdering everything he represents. The law, the authority, the homeland", continued Gérald Darmanin.

"It's a crime"

The drama that unfolded that evening, at the exit of the A8 motorway, "it's not a refusal to comply, it's a crime. Society must respond to these crimes so that they finally stop, so that we can say to ourselves, if someone does not stop in front of a representative of the law, then the law stops the offender before he becomes a criminal”, pleaded Gérald Darmanin during this tribute filled with emotion.