Parents of Slain French Officer Mélanie Lemée Speak Out, Reject Vengeance

"I am angry of course, I just lost my 25-year-old daughter. (...) However, anger does not mean revenge for us," declares on Europe 1 the father of the gendarme. For her part, Mélanie Lemée’s mother says she has no judgment to make on the alleged murderer, "at least not immediately." "I don’t know the past he had to end up there, but what is certain is that his life is completely ruined," she believes.

"We carry values of living together and hatred or hate messages have no place in living together, assures the father of the gendarme. And those who profess it, whether on social networks or elsewhere, are mistaken. With hatred, we don’t move forward. It does not allow individuals to thrive. And by doing this job, our daughter was not a bearer of hatred (...) Precisely, she put all her strength, all her conviction, to be able to bring her help in her functions as a gendarme." The latter received the Legion of Honor posthumously.

On Saturday, a white march was organized in tribute to Mélanie Lemée in Aiguillon (Lot-et-Garonne).