These hateful messages sent to the widow of the gendarme Eric Comyn are now at the center of an investigation

Since her speech at the tribute to her husband, the widow of Eric Comyn, the police officer killed by a hit-and-run driver during a traffic stop, has been facing abusive messages from anonymous people on social media.

A week after the military tribute to her husband, Eric Comyn, a police officer killed in Mougin by a driver after refusing a traffic stop, Harmonie Comyn is the target of hateful comments on social media that have led to the opening of an investigation for cyberbullying.

On Wednesday, August 28, two days after the tragic death of her husband, the gendarme's widow made remarks that still resonate in people's minds. “I say it loud and clear, France killed my husband! […] France killed my husband by his inadequacy, his laxity and his excess of tolerance”, declared Harmonie Comyn, during a ceremony in the commune of Mandelieu-La Napoule where the policeman was stationed. “Be careful, I'm not talking about foreigners, but about repeat offenders”, she added.

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On August 26, a reckless driver of Cape Verdean origin mowed down Eric Comyn while trying to evade a traffic stop; the police officer ultimately died from his injuries. The 39-year-old man was still driving despite several arrests for driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, and a dozen convictions on his criminal record. The heartfelt cry of the gendarme's widow, addressed to everyone, immediately caused a reaction on social networks. Internet users targeted her especially because of one sentence: “1981 should never have happened.” exist", in reference to the date of the abolition of the death penalty.

Messages of unheard-of violence

Since then, Harmonie Comyn has been subjected to the wrath of many Internet users, who, under the cover of anonymity, have been posting “abject messages” towards the mother. On social networks, insulting and hateful remarks are multiplying. Sentences such as: “I hope that this sow dies too”, “No pity, that she joins him…”, ” are posted under the videos of her speech. Some call her a fascist and hammer home the message “ACAB” of the American “All Cops Are Bastards”.

Faced with this, the justice system was seized and an investigation for cyberbullying was opened. On Monday, on the sidelines of a tribute ceremony organized for the gendarme, in the presence of the resigning Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, the Attorney General of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal, Franck Rastoul, indicated that he would “ensure that that certain odious, unacceptable remarks, made on the fringes of this tragedy, be punished to the full extent of the identification of their authors.” "Freedom of expression is not a reason for judicial impunity on social networks" and "cannot be the false nose for the commission of offenses, the propagation of hatred of institutions and those who serve them or their relatives", he added.