A group of French farmers decided to take matters into their own hands after they said the authorities didn’t do anything about squatters who had set up camp on their land. They say it was an illegal Gypsy camp, and they were fed up with waiting for help.
According to people who live nearby, the squatters had been there for several days, and it was causing issues for both residents and the owners of the farmland. The farmers said they had complained to the police multiple times but nothing was done.
Video from the scene shows at least six tractors circling the camp, made up of cars and caravans, and blasting it with waste. They sprayed the whole area with a thick mix of water, animal poop, and sludge.
In the video, some of the squatters come out of their vehicles and try to get the farmers to stop. One guy climbs up onto a tractor and starts banging on the window but the driver doesn’t stop, and they keep going until the entire field is coated.
After the video hit Instagram and YouTube, the comments blew up. One person wrote: “The way the squatters try to fight them off as if it’s their land and not the farmers! The level of entitlement is astounding.” Another said: “I would do this from the air. Crop dusting on steroids.” Others called it the best thing they had seen that day.
Not everyone agreed though. One person said: “Open your mind to the possibility that maybe these fields were vacant for years, growing nothing, barren because they don’t have money to farm them. Then the gypsy camp moves into this land [sic] they see available forever. You don’t know.”
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. A British farmer named Jack Bellamy also went viral for using manure to kick someone off his land in Devon. In that video, he sees a tent on his property and says: “I tell you what, these **** will set up anywhere,” before firing up his tractor and spraying everything.
Rules in the UK allow temporary camping for up to 60 days per year on private land, but only if the owner says it’s okay. If not, it’s considered trespassing. Even though that’s a civil issue, landowners can still tell people to leave right away.
