The demonstration held on Saturday in Paris, in tribute to a far-right activist who died in 1994 for trying to escape the police, shocked some of the left-wing deputies and the presidential majority. This procession which brought together Celtic crosses and black hoods was authorized by the police headquarters.
A demonstration that does not pass. The “May 9 Committee”, an organization that commemorates the death of Sébastien Deyzieu, an activist of the ultranationalist organization l’Œuvre française, who died in 1994, met during a mobilization this Saturday, in the heart of Paris. To the chagrin of part of the left, but also of the presidential majority, after the ban on rallies against the pension reform.
“Under the hood or the mask of respectability, the far right remains the far right. The only change is the tacit complicity it enjoys from those who have decided to confront the left as a priority”, writes Olivier Faure, the boss of the Socialist Party, on his Twitter account.
550 activists present
Since the death of Sébastien Deyzieu, at the end of a demonstration in 1994 after a fall from several floors, while he was being chased by the police, the Gud (a far-right student association, dissolved for a time before reborn in 2022, editor’s note) and the National Youth Front, now renamed National Rally, created this “committee” to denounce police violence.
Each year, he organizes an event to gather at 4 rue des Chartreux, in Paris. 550 activists, often decked out in balaclavas or Celtic crosses, a fascist symbol, were present on May 6, according to the Paris police headquarters.
Since the takeover of the “May 9 Committee” by the Zouaves Paris, a small group dissolved in January 2022 after violence committed during a meeting of Éric Zemmour, the number of participants has increased significantly.
Lieutenants of Marine Le Pen present in the procession
Two relatives of Marine Le Pen were present, according to information from Mediapart. Axel Loustau, one of the close friends of the patroness of the RN group in the National Assembly and provider of his campaigns, marched alongside Olivier Duguet, one of the treasurers of a micro-party close to the RN.
This gathering passes all the less as it has been authorized by the police. Gatherings have been banned in recent weeks during the travels of Emmanuel Macron and his ministers. The police headquarters has banned any demonstration in Lyon for the visit of the president during the commemorations of May 8, just like in Paris for the ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe.
“In the France of 2023, the sound of boots frightens less than that of saucepans… Shameful. Jean Moulin must be turning in his grave”, thus judges the ecologist deputy and ex-macroniste Aurélien Taché.
“No” to pans but “yes to demonstrations of neo-Nazis”
Same story on the side of the LFI parliamentarian Paul Vannier. “In macronie, casseroles are no. Neo-Nazi demonstrations are yes.”
The presidential majority is hardly more at ease. “These images of protests yesterday by masked neo-Nazis in the streets of Paris are as terrifying as they are outrageous,” said Paris MP Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet.
“Even legal, this sordid parade damages the Republic and must be denounced with the greatest vigor!”, said Modem deputy Bruno Millienne.
On the side of the police headquarters, we assume. “Insofar as this demonstration had not caused, in previous years, any overflow or disturbance to public order, the prefect was not justified in issuing a prohibition order against it”, can we read in A press release.
