one bullet and the hunter turned their lives upside down
In the forests of Morvan, in the swamps of Poitevin, in the National Assembly… Reporterre highlights the five personalities who made 2022.
November 17, 2022. Pleas carried the threatening sky. A few minutes ago, a brutal group of journalists entered through a half-open door and crushed the lonely soul of a policeman. He flew away. The two women sitting on the steps of the Cahors courthouse are now alone. Ahead of them, three ravens are squawking on the top of a majestic poplar. “ I was relieved »whispers the eldest.
The paths of Lea Jaillard, 28, and Mila Sanchez, 27, could never have crossed. Children of the Causses du Quercy, its limestone plateaus, cliffs and orchids, one a publisher in Barcelona, the other a PhD student in geography in Wales. However, on December 2, 2020, the disappearance of a person under the falling night sealed their fate.
Morgan Keene was shot in the chest while chopping wood in his garden. The hunter who fired the bullet told investigators he thought he saw a wild boar. “ At first I was scaredsay Reporter Sophie, Mila’s mother. The line between sadness and depression is thin. They turned this personal drama into strength and struggle so that his name would not be forgotten and he would not die in vain. »
- “ Abba Bérangère regarded us as naive girls. He quickly realized that he was wrong. We never heard a reformation from him. » © Emmanuel Clevenot / Reporterre
Morgan or “ Maggi »it happened “ an interesting mix of Celtic, Viking, elves and orcs with a punk look and artist spirit », portraying his best friend Ralph. He was also a precious friend to Mila and Leah: “ You saw, you felt loved. » On the evening of his death, one was abroad, and the other was asleep: “ When I turned on my phone at 5 in the morning, I found piles of messages. I didn’t understand who they were talking about. Maggi ? This was impossible. »
“ Shake off the colossus of the hunting lobby »
Leah pulls a Sodebo vegetarian salad out of her canvas bag and opens the lid. Next to him, Mila closes her eyes. A light breeze caresses the reeds of a rectangular pond in need of care.
The next day, the Moggy drama caused the ink to flow in the local press columns. Many readers reacted to this with the same bitter feeling: it was to be expected. “ We understand from the comments that it is not about the isolated clumsiness of an irresponsible person.Mila continues. Violent behavior by hunters was common. How could so many victims be silenced? ? »
On December 7, 2020, along with other friends of Morgan Keen, they launched a call for testimony on their humble Facebook profiles. This bottle, thrown into the sea, signed the foundation act of the Un jour, un chasseur collective. Over the course of a few days, many stories emerged. “ One day my father was executed », “ One day a bullet went through our whole house », “ One day on the Beaune-Dijon highway, Annie Azar was shot dead with her children in the back seat. », “ One day, a drunk hunter killed Muhammad and Smael, 19 and 20 years old. », “ One day they shot my dog in front of my eyes ».
- Supporters display photos of Morgan Keene during the hunter’s trial, November 17, 2022. © Emmanuel Clevenot / Reporterre
“ So we vowed to fight to break the omerta and shake off the colossus that is the hunting lobby. » Influenced by feminist movements, they have armed themselves with social networks to spread expression and centralize a fragmented voice: “ Bravo, you have awakened the #MeToo of the hunt »wrote one of his 42,800 followers.
Many hunters also use mechanisms derived from patriarchy and sexism to discredit these stories. “ She shouldn’t have worn a skirt » IT HAPPENS “ he only had to wear a fluorescent vest ». This is called a process “ blames the victim »it denies the guilt of victims and tends to make violence less condemnable or even normalized. “ This boys club dreams of making us look like a bunch of hystericsLeah said. So, in the face of their mediocre emotional arguments, we counter them with the force of facts. The dead and wounded are quantifiable, inexorable. »
“ This has become the struggle of a lifetime and nothing can stop us »
“ When I was a child, my brother and I used to throw stones at the signs of the Reserve and have fun », remembers Leah. During each walk in the forest, Höelle and Louis, their parents kept shouting at them: “ We are not boars ! » “ It was a game for them. She didn’t make an anti-hunting campaign until her lover died. I was always annoying him more than messing with the hunters »his mother smiled.
Militant and politicized Lea and Mila became so by force of circumstances. In February 2021, the then Secretary of State for Biodiversity Beranjere Abba invited the founders of the collective to the Ministry of Ecology. “ Warm welcome with small tea and all tralalaLeah laughs. He wanted to work on hunting reforms. Or so he claimed. » The politician gave a firm “no” answer to the celebration of hunting-free Sunday. “ I think she took us as naive girls and quickly realized she had opened the wrong door. He never contacted us again, we never heard of his reformation. »
One day in September 2021, the hunter filed a citizen petition on the Senate website. The goal: to collect 100,000 signatures within six months so that their proposals can be considered. Two months were enough to bring together more than 122,000 people. An information mission was launched, and the next fall the report came down: none of the measures aimed at ensuring the practice of hunting were included.
- Six of Morgan’s friends – Peggy, Sara (pictured, in the cemetery where Morgan is buried), Zoe, Nadège, Lea and Mila – formed the collective Un jour, un chasseur. @ Alain Pitton / Reporter
“ Sometimes I could take a breath, take a breath pause. If it wasn’t for Morgan’s death, I would never have gotten into this fight.He knows Milan. Still, this has become the struggle of a lifetime, and as long as people continue to die, nothing can stop us. » Two friends who live with the expressions they collect every day are suffering from anxiety today. “ On the train from Paris, I spent six hours retelling the stories of the bullets hitting the headrest of the carriage. »
If their fight is about to begin, the page on Keane’s case can be closed. What memory would you like to keep from your friend? ? Mila turns her head in a subtle gesture of humility. A tear, reddened by the coolness of the twilight, runs down his cheek. “ One day Moggy came to see me in Paris. I had forced him to visit all the great monuments, he was amazed. » The muffled voice of a woman in uniform interrupts his story from across the garden: “ I close the doors, everyone leaves. » Before leaving, Léon ends Mila on the sidewalk of the boulevard Gambetta: “ At the end of the week, he admitted to me that he sold the car to meet me. This is the memory I want to keep… »
