Richard Trinquier was detained on Sunday after he turned up, along with the deputy mayor of the suburb Wissous and two off-duty local police officers, at the car park of a creche where the travellers were attempting to set up a halting site, media reports said. “He threatened the travellers with a katana,” a long, single-edged sword used by Japanese samurai, officials said, adding that he also had armed himself with a handgun and wore body armour. “Evidently there were tensions between the mayor and the (traveller) community,” the local prosecutor’s office said. A member of the community with who had the altercation was also arrested on Sunday after police found a rifle in his vehicle. An official halting site for 200 caravans is due be opened in the suburb.

Source: The Local April 09, 2018 15:00 UTC