Forty years after the massacre, in 2001, the event was officially acknowledged by the city of Paris with the placement and unveiling of a memorial plaque near the Pont Saint-Michel. This resulted from work by the Socialist Party local government. At the unveiling of the plaque, Bertrand Delanoë, the Socialist Party Mayor of Paris, cited the need for France to come to terms with this event in order to move forward with unity. Centrist and right-wing politicians, as well as the police union, objected to the plaque on various grounds (increased threat of civil unrest, alleged tolerance of terrorism, and encouragement of disrespect for the police). On the other hand, historian Olivier LeCour Grandmaison, president of the 17 October 1961 Association, declared to "L'Humanité" that