Grab the tissues.
Étienne Cardiles is the husband of slain officer Xavier Jugelé. He delivered a powerful eulogy outside police headquarters earlier today.
37-year-old Jugelé was shot and killed during a terrorist attack on the Champs-Élysées last week. His killer was Karim Cheurfi, a 39-year-old Frenchman and ISIS member. Jugelé was posthumously awarded the Legion of Honor, one of France’s highest honors, and given the rank of captain for his bravery.
This morning, Cardiles told the hundreds of mourners outside the police headquarters that he harbored no hatred over the attack.
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“I suffer without shame, you will not have my hatred,” he said, adding that the last time he communicated with his husband is via text message on Thursday.
Cardiles said Jugelé was happy to be stationed on the Champs-Elysées that day because it represented “the image of France” for him.
To Jugelé, Cardiles had this to say: “You will stay in my heart forever. I love you. Let us live with dignity and defend peace.”
Watch the emotional eulogy below.
"I'm suffering without hate."
Incredibly powerful eulogy by husband of the policeman murdered last week in Paris. pic.twitter.com/VZ631nmlNW
— Greg Hogben (@MyDaughtersArmy) April 25, 2017
Related: The police officer killed in Paris attack was a proud gay man and LGBTQ activist
gjg64
RIP. Especially grateful France didn’t vote for the homophobic National Front after this.
MediaGuy
This is very sad indeed. I cannot help but notice that this man, the “husband”, is young, strong and handsome, and to be widowed in this way, at this time in life is a tragedy in itself.
He said: “You will not have my hatred”. I find this strange, and I don’t want to believe him. I hope for his sake that he is full of rage and hatred. I think it’s normal for any man who’s partner was just brutally murdered for an extremist religious ideology to feel full of rage and hatred. Normal. Very normal.
Normal, unless you live in a society such as France where they have a history of embracing their captors and murderers. Give me a minute to wrap my head around this. A religious fanatic kills your partner and you cannot find any hatred, revenge or homicidal thoughts or feelings? Again, I hope this gentleman does, soon. If this murder doesn’t motivate the French, motivate this man, motivate everyone who loves civil society to fight back against the enemy, then we will soon have the same breakdown in law and order of the same extreme nature we have already seen in France and in all of Europe in the 1940’s. For being a Jew, for being homosexual or being a gypsy.
Tolerating religious extremism, to the point of embracing our killers would never happen in America. We elected Trump because we will not offer a kiss to the fanatics who want us dead. We will offer them the sword. But then there’s the gay community, who, like this widow, might just offer a kiss.
Feel hatred for those who would kill us, throw us off buildings, put us in concentration camps. It’s good for you. It’s good for us. It’s normal. Offer the sword. Do it first. Our community will not be slaughtered again.
aequalitasTN
I feel like you have assumed a great deal in your post. I happen to agree with your point re: offering religious extremists who stand to murder, pillage, and destroy the sword. I happen to agree that we need a tough vetting process to keep non-citizens such as that out of this country. I, however, do not agree that we need to destroy the Constitution, or cozy up to our own home grown brand of religious extremeist hatred to do it. There are plenty of people in this country, a good majority of whom Trump courted, and later appointed their religiously extreme representatives, who espouse the same values, to run the executive branch. The only difference is that they do not kill us outright, just inflict a “death by 1000 cuts” instead by depriving us of our basic Constitutional rights in the name of their god, and their religion, and their family. If they had their way, being gay would be punishable by death — at the hands of the state. Those are not the people I want, or need, to be in power, just to get tough on immigration policy and establish common-sense principles and processes to govern such. I choose, frankly, to think for myself as opposed to along a party line, and refuse to excuse the atrocities of one to justify the atrocious acts of another — just like I happen to be pro-life (certain ad hoc cases excepted), because I believe that the very same evangelicals that espouse pro-life views would be the ones to conduct a holocaust when a gay (or gay predisposition) gene is identified and an invitro test developed to detect it, again, all in the name of their god and their religion. Obviously, I will not go into all the caveats and responsibilities I believe the state would have if abortion were declared illegal, saving certain circumstances, as that would take hours. Point: excusing our own homegrown hatred in order to stamp out a foreign, and possible invading, hatred is unacceptable to me, one is not exclusive of the other. I do happen to think that President Trump is not a homophobe, but he sure as hell has apponted enough of them to do some serious damage to progress, given their official positions.
As to your comment on the “husband” (not sure why the hell you quoted that as — under the law — he was): everyone grieves in his or her own way. If this is his process, and he refuses to compromise his beliefs, then so be it. Give him that; he, like any grieving spouse, deserves nothing less. I happen to agree that I would be fuming if I were in his shoes, but I am not him. This is a tragedy, and I do hope Mr. Cardiles finds peace.
RIP, Officer Jugelé.
HereinNYC
Anger and hatred are different beasts.
Hatred can be consuming and I applaud him for raising above it
The problem is that while hating the extreme (and very very small minority) of Islam that would perform or condone this kind of attack can slip into discrimination and fear of the whole population, the “baby and the bath water” dynamic.
Whenever I think of Islamic terrorists being used to somehow represent the entire Islamic population. I parallel that to if Westboro baptist church were used to judge all Christians.
And like the other poster, why did you put husband in quotes?
Jacques
Très belles paroles en mémoire d’un être cher. On s’en souviendra longtemps. Paix sur la terre. Aucune haine.
Herman75
It’s almost as if you expect the shooter knew Jugelé was gay, and that the French have this coming to them.
Unless you are there, how can you know much about this. Do you think our news media has given a complete and fair portrayal of their history and current events.
I am sad for his partner and for France. So sad for them.
strix1
Very touching eulogy…Xavier seemed like an all around great guy and husband. Seems like France is getting punched hard by terrorists.
o.codone
The word “husband” was in quotes only b/c i had seen other articles which said these two gentlemen were in a civil union. I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t want to assume they had a legal marriage. Not a commentary on their relationship or anything, just a bit of caution in favor of accuracy.