In a state of brain death since the assault on Saturday in Metz’s city center, Noahm, 19, has died on Tuesday at the hospital. Testimonies collected on site by Mediapart leave little doubt about the homophobic nature of the violence that was unleashed on him.
Three days after his admission to Mercy Hospital in Metz, doctors could only pronounce Noahm’s death on Tuesday, June 2. Aged 19, the young man was already in a state of brain death when he was taken in, Saturday morning, after being the victim of a violent assault in the city center of the Moselle prefecture (Grand Est). Two suspects, aged 20 and 27, have been indicted and placed in provisional detention on Monday evening, with a judicial inquiry opened at this stage for violence and “attempted homicide by a person acting in a state of manifest intoxication”.
The tragedy, however, does not seem to be reducible to a quarrel between drunken youths, as the regional daily Le Républicain Lorrain’s early reports suggested. “Elements reported by relatives also indicate homophobic insults”, stated over the weekend by the Stop Homophobia association, with no further details. On Monday, the public prosecutor, David Touvet, provided this clarification: “If ever during the ongoing judicial information that has just been opened, elements are collected that support the homophobic motivation of these acts (…) the criminal charge would be adjusted and would remain at the level of the maximum penalty under the French penal code, namely life imprisonment.”
“Noahm wears makeup, he is effeminate…”
What happened in Metz on this ominous eve of the LGBT Pride month? In a Mediapart report, Noahm’s friend adds to the narrative of the events. Around 5 a.m., the young man is about to return home after spending the evening with her and her partner, his cousin and the latter’s boyfriend. As they go to retrieve bicycles, the group crosses three individuals carrying a loudspeaker. That is when everything changes. “They directly confronted Noahm. Because you see, Noahm wears makeup, Noahm is effeminate…” recounts the young woman. Flung to the ground on his back, the young man bangs his head, where he also receives in front of his friend’s eyes “two kicks to the back of the head”, before the attackers flee, not without shouting: “Dirty fags, dirty queers.”
Tuesday evening, a gathering took place in front of the Merten column, not far from the site of the tragedy, at the initiative of the Couleurs Gaies association, which runs Metz’s LGBTQI+ center. Like Stop Homophobia, this group intends to become a civil party in this case, to assert the aggravating circumstance of homophobia. Contacted by Têtu, Me Amélie Bonfanti, who represents Noahm’s aunt, appeared rather confident on this point: “It would seem that the examining judge has clearly recognized the aggravating circumstance of homophobia and that it will be retained from the investigative stage.” Metz Pride is scheduled for Saturday, June 13.
