Don't remind Damien Rieu that his real name is Damien Lefèvre.
Not that he does not assume his identity (not really the type of the house) but "because it gives the impression that I am hiding", slips the one who says he changed his surname more than ten years ago. to prevent his father, a Communist, from knowing his commitment to the extreme right.
At 31, the co-founder of Génération identitaire (GI) for which he was the spokesperson from 2012 to 2015, swapped the down jacket of the activist in the field for a suit-sweater-shirt of an RN candidate in the departmental elections in the Somme.
"A new page is opening," he welcomed last Saturday, formalizing the news alongside the RN candidate in Hauts-de-France, Sébastien Chenu.
However, his commitment to the National Rally is nothing new.
After taking his card in 2015, he worked as a graphic designer, community manager and photographer for the deputy Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, was successively a collaborator of the RN group in PACA, communication director of the RN town hall of Beaucaire (Gard) , parliamentary attaché to Gilbert Collard then Philippe Olivier, special advisor to Marine Le Pen.
"It's been six years since I am no longer at Generation Identity"
But for the first time, Damien Rieu is presented to the voters.
“I've been an activist behind the scenes for fourteen years, working for others.
And there, the opportunity arose… ”explains the Lyonnais.
Head for the canton of Péronne where his partner lives and where he "spent part" of his confinement, he wrote in his press kit to justify his migration: "I am attached to this land rich in history" ... and RN voters since Marine Le Pen won 55% of the votes in the second round of the presidential election.
Isn't it contradictory for a party, more than ever in search of respectability, to present the former leader of a formation which has just been dissolved by the Ministry of the Interior for its radicalism?
“I haven't been at GI for six years.
Until when will I be an identity?
»Sighs the one who was nevertheless the linchpin of the anti-migrant action at the Col de l'Echelle in the Alps, in April 2018 (he was released on appeal).
“He was presented to me as a dangerous reaction.
But I discovered a reasonable and humble boy ”, defends Sébastien Chenu.
“To be an official candidate of the RN is to follow the line of the RN.
Its expression must be consistent, ”warns Wallerand de Saint-Just, member of the executive board.
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Because, followed by more than 93,000 subscribers on Twitter, Damien Rieu knows how to be heard on social networks.
Reason why Gilbert Collard separated from it.
“He's competent, smart.
But when he farted, it was I who stank!
»He exclaims about the controversies involving his former collaborator and to which his name was therefore associated.
"He raises files, puts things in the spotlight", on the contrary welcomes his current employer, Philippe Olivier.
Immigration and Islam for alpha and omega
On Twitter, Damien Rieu still presents himself as a “whistleblower”.
"I monitor all the politicians who collaborate with the Islamists and denounce them", he explains, with a predilection for the LR "who teach great lessons on Islamism but do not have a clean ass".
"I participated in Ali Juppé, Farid Fillon, Bilal Hamon", he prides himself in reference to the online smear campaigns which marked the last presidential election.
Among his feats of arms, the one who also collaborates on the Fdesouche site cites the cancellation of the concert of the rapper Medina at the Bataclan or the prosecution for inciting racial hatred against an imam from Toulouse.
He also recently launched the lescomplices.info site to "list the elected officials who come to terms with the Islamists".
“On Islam, he is unbeatable.
He knows all the trends, he could even open a madrassa
[Editor's note: Koranic school]
!
", Laughs one of his former colleagues who adds:" for him, immigration and Islam are the alpha and the omega.
But apart from that, he has no political culture.
In any case, he projects himself towards other electoral adventures.
"If I set up somewhere, it's not a one-shot," he said, hinting that he will also run for the legislative elections.
Already, he indicates that he will be a candidate to join the national council of the RN at the next Congress.
But his identity cybermilitistism will continue: "If I just become institutional, I am no longer Damien Rieu ..."
