Macron’s 007 umbrella pips hail of tomatoes
Guards unfurl device that can withstand knife and pétanque ball attacks after president is pelted on visit
‘I heard the messages sent by workingclass areas. It means there is a mistrust for public affairs’
EMMANUEL MACRON’S security detail was forced to deploy a special protective umbrella after he was pelted with tomatoes on his first trip since being reelected as president.
The tomatoes appeared to narrowly miss the French president when they were thrown at him during a walkabout at a market in the suburbs of Paris.
Video showed the tomatoes hitting a bystander, and a blue bag following after. Mr Macron’s bodyguards immediately opened the James Bond-style umbrella after shouting “projectile”.
The special Kevlar device – known as the parapactum – can withstand attacks with knives, dogs and pétanque balls, according to its designers.
The umbrella was brought into the Élysée armoury under Nicolas Sarkozy, Mr Macron’s predecessor. It costs about €10,000 (£8,400), and comes in a secure black briefcase. The material has been tested to withstand acid.
The device is also designed to hold back crowds, and can cope with 100kg of pressure. It is waterproof and its makers insist it will not crumple in a headwind of 125mph.
The attack follows an incident last year when Mr Macron was slapped in the face by a man in a crowd while on an official visit in southern France.
Yesterday the president spent an hour and a half greeting and chatting with residents of Clergy, an area that voted overwhelmingly for Jean-luc Mélenchon, the far-left presidential candidate. Mr Macron is in desperate need of support to retain his parliamentary majority in elections in June.
As residents asked for more support in education and security, the president said he was understanding and wanted to act “more swiftly, more strongly”.
“I heard the messages sent by working-class areas,” Mr Macron said. Speaking about the election’s high abstention rate, he said: “It means there is a mistrust for public affairs. Being there in the first few days of the [presidential] mandate is the only way to ward off this mistrust.”
The incident comes in the middle of horse trading between political parties ahead of the elections in June.
Mr Mélenchon has referred to the vote as a third round of the presidential election, since he hopes he will win a majority of seats in parliament, which would compel Mr Macron to choose a prime minister from his party.
Replying to a question about Mr Mélenchon possibly being chosen as prime minister, Mr Macron said: “First things first, we must respect voters.”
There is speculation on who might replace Jean Castex, the present incumbent, who has been criticised for flying to his region to vote in the first round of the presidential election.
Voters who supported Marine Le Pen, the Right-wing challenger for the presidency, will also be key in June’s election. Mr Macron is aware he won thanks to voters supporting him against the National Rally party candidate.
It was the second time that Ms Le Pen had lost a presidential election, but she will run as the sitting MP for the Pas-decalais region in the parliamentary vote.
The attack on Mr Macron last year happened on a visit to Tain-l’hermitage, in the south-east of the country. As he approached a crowd of well-wishers, a man grabbed his forearm and shouted “Montjoie Saint Denis”, a historical royalist battle-cry, and “Down with Macronia” before slapping Mr Macron’s face.
The 28-year-old, who had far-right leanings, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but served only three months.
In June 2011, Mr Sarkozy, then president, was grabbed by the collar during a walkabout in Brax, in Lot-et-garonne, in the south-west.