Caen Police Probe April Banquet for Racial Provocation as 3,500-Pack Feasts Draw Political Fire
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 6
Caen Police Probe April Banquet for Racial Provocation as 3,500-Pack Feasts Draw Political Fire
2 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 6
Summary
Caen police have opened a preliminary investigation into alleged racial provocation by attendees at an April “patriotic” banquet, bringing criminal scrutiny to a fast-growing French dining phenomenon.
La France Insoumise says the events feature racist chanting, insults toward immigrant staff and menus centered on pork to exclude Muslims, and links those claims to billionaire investor Pierre-Edouard Stérin’s hard-right network.
Le Canon Français, which sells €81 tickets for four-course regional feasts with unlimited wine, rejects the accusations and says guests sign a conduct charter; co-founder Pierre-Alexandre de Boisse said isolated drunken remarks would not reflect company policy.
A 3,500-person banquet in Colmar last weekend showed the scale of the trend, with mostly young adults singing traditional songs in a largely white crowd, though no offensive behavior was witnessed there.
The dispute has become a wider political fight before next year’s elections, with LFI pressing local authorities to block the banquets and already claiming an initial success in Quimper.