Despite the cold, around 200 people gathered this evening in front of the Pantheon in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. It is to the call of the gathering of the ultra-right collective “Les Natifs” for a “tribute to Thomas”, the young man killed by a stab in the Drôme, that these demonstrators respond.
The gathering was initially banned by an order from the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nunez, who justified his decision: “In this type of gathering, we have comments made that incite hatred and violence. “. But the administrative court suspended this order, validating the interim relief filed by the collective, heir to Génération Identitaire, the nationalist group dissolved in 2021.
Anti-immigration slogans
Stressing that the purpose of this gathering was “to pay tribute to Thomas”, the summary judges concluded that “the ban imposed represents, given its disproportionate nature, a serious and manifestly illegal attack on the freedom of demonstration “.
It was still in the face of a large police force that the hundreds of people present lit smoke bombs to “demand justice for Thomas”. Not surprisingly, the songs sung afterwards deviated from simple homage to take on anti-immigration demands: “Scum in prison, illegal immigrants on the plane. »
Among the demonstrators was Jean-Yves Le Gallou, former MEP and former member of the FN (ex-RN).
Police and journalists were also targeted with chants: “Police complicit, journalists collabos. » According to journalists on site, the gathering dispersed shortly after 8 p.m.