Editing Sante Geronimo Caserio (section)

=== Assassination of Sadi Carnot ===
{{Main article|Assassination of Sadi Carnot}}

==== Premices ====
[[File:Assassinat Sadi Carnot Le Petit Parisien.png|thumb|316x316px|Representation of the [[Assassination of Sadi Carnot|assassination of Sadi Carnot by Sante Caserio]], ''Le Petit Parisien: supplément illustré'' (8 July 1894)<ref>{{Cite web |date=1894-01-07 |title=Le Petit Parisien. Supplément littéraire illustré |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k830424s/f208.item.zoom |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Gallica |language=EN}}</ref>]]
On 23 June 1894, Sante Caserio reported to work but suddenly argued with his employer, despite having been on good terms until then.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}} Around 11:00 AM, he visited gunsmith Guillaume Vaux and purchased a dagger. By 1:30 PM, he arrived alone at the Café du Gard, where he inquired about the schedule and fare for the next train from Avignon to Lyon.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}} Later, he met with Saurel, who later claimed their conversation focused only on Caserio’s dispute with Vialla and his plans to seek work in Montpellier.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}}

At 3:00 PM, Caserio boarded a train to Montpellier.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}} Upon arrival, he visited an anarchist named Laborie, leaving around 9:00 PM to catch the 11:00 PM train to Avignon.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}} His activities during the two-hour gap remain unknown.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}} To evade potential surveillance, he changed trains multiple times, arriving in Vienne by morning. There, he met three comrades during the morning, all of whom later insisted they discussed only trivial matters.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}}

Caserio then began walking toward Lyon, 30 kilometers away,{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}} where Sadi Carnot was scheduled to attend a parade that evening for the [[Exposition internationale et coloniale (1894)]]—France’s first colonial exposition.{{Sfn|Jourdain|2018|p=136-138}} His impending act thus aligned with a recurring [[Decolonization|anticolonial]] trend within anarchism.{{Sfn|Jourdain|2018|p=136-138}} Around 3:00 PM on 24 June 1894, he stopped to ask a farmer in Simandres (Isère) for water.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}} An hour and a half later, he passed through Saint-Syphorien-d’Ozon.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}}

==== Attack ====
From that moment on, he was not seen again until the attack, which is relatively important for understanding the upcoming assassination.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=45-49}} This is because it is likely that—contrary to what Caserio claimed during his trial—the anarchist has been aided or coordinated with a small group of Lyonnais anarchists to orchestrate his plot.{{Sfn|Bouhey|2009|p=291-295}}{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=70-90}}
[[File:Arrestation de Caserio L'Univers illustré.png|thumb|Representation of the arrest of Sante Caserio in L'Univers illustré (30 June 1894)]]
Shortly before 9:00 P.M, Caserio positioned himself along the route of President Carnot’s procession at the precise spot where he could assassinate him,{{Sfn|Bouhey|2009|p=291-295}} namely to the right of the carriage, facing against the direction of movement.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=70-90}} The carriage, departing from the Palais du Commerce, entered the street where the anarchist stood, surrounded by a crowd of cheering onlookers.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=70-90}}

When the last riders of the escort passed him,{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=5-10}} Caserio—masked with a cap—pushed the two people in front of him and lunged at the president, the blade of his dagger concealed in a newspaper.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=5-10}} He delivered a single, powerful blow with his right hand and shouted, 'Long live the Revolution!' He then fled as the president fell onto his back, losing consciousness.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=5-10}} The mayor of Lyon, [[Antoine Gailleton]], initially did not grasp what had occurred, believing someone had thrown a bouquet of flowers at the president.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=5-10}}

Caserio nearly escaped but, while shouting 'Long live anarchy!' during his flight, the escort that had overtaken him turned back to apprehend him.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=5-10}} He failed to reach the crowd, which closed in around him. The crowd seized him, beating him before police intervened.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=5-10}}{{Sfn|Accoce|1998|p=139-142}} Meanwhile, Carnot was rushed to Hôtel Dieu hospital. Struck in the liver in two places, he had little chance of survival and died a few hours later on 25 June 1894 around 00:30 A.M.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=5-10}}

==== Following events ====
[[File:Pillage et incendie anti italien L'Univers illustré.png|thumb|300x300px|Representation of [[1894 anti-Italian riots|French anti-Italian riots and plundering]] following Caserio's act in ''L'Univers illustré'' (30 June 1894)]]
Caserio’s act triggered [[1894 anti-Italian riots|significant xenophobic anti-Italian riots in Lyon]] as soon as the public learned of the president’s death and the assassin’s identity.{{Sfn|Accoce|1998|p=139-142}}{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=20-30}} On the evening of the attack, gathering places of Italians in Lyon were targeted, the consulate was stormed, and had to be protected by overwhelmed police forces due to the scale of ethnic violence.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=20-30}} In the following days, many Italian-owned properties and businesses in the city were looted.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=20-30}} The assassination caused profound shock among parts of the French population, who paid tribute to Carnot.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=20-30}} However, in the popular unrest following the attack, Italians rather than anarchists were disproportionately targeted.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=30-40}} Caserio’s act marked the final attack of the [[Ère des attentats]] (1892-1894) and remains one of its most notable.{{Sfn|Piarotas|2000|p=141}}

Lyon anarchists, wary of repression, largely avoided openly supporting the attack. Many were swiftly searched, arrested, and later released.{{Sfn|Berthoud|1969|p=30-40}}