‘He could have killed them’: Reims company boss drives bus into striking employees, injuring two

The strike at a transport depot near Reims turned violent when a company director allegedly drove a bus toward employees blocking the entrance. Two strikers were injured, including a 24-year-old ambulance worker and a 48-year-old bus driver, according to the account, and both were taken to Reims University Hospital with injuries considered non-life-threatening.

The action began on August 31 over demands that included opposition to cameras being installed inside vehicles and requests for bonuses. About 25 employees were gathered at the picket line in Bezannes, south of Reims, when Laurent Dewitte arrived around 10:20 a.m. with two workers recruited that day.

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He could have killed them, this is a criminal matter.

Jean-Marie Hommet, secretary-general of the CFDT Transport union in the Marne, said the group prevented the new employees from reaching a coach. Dewitte allegedly took the keys and began driving the bus toward the depot exit while striking workers followed. Video filmed by one of the employees shows the bus accelerating, braking sharply and then moving again, hitting a 45-year-old employee of the Capital Champagne company.

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I have never seen violence like that on a picket line.

After getting off the bus, Dewitte allegedly addressed the worker lying on the ground: “I think the next person, before blocking my company, will think twice about it.” He then allegedly handed the keys to one of the newly hired employees, who later struck a 24-year-old ambulance worker before fleeing. Police arrested him afterward.

Dewitte and the new employee were taken into custody on suspicion of “violence with weapons without incapacity.” Both were released later that day. The decision angered the strikers. “We can’t understand why he was released. He could have killed them, this is a criminal matter,” Hommet said.

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I think the next person, before blocking my company, will think twice about it.