At the call of several left-wing organizations, 5,000 people according to the organizers, 1,800 according to the prefecture, demonstrated on Saturday afternoon in the center of Lyon against the extreme right.
The procession set off at the beginning of the afternoon from Place Bellecour, behind a banner which read “all united against extreme right-wing violence”.
Read also Identity generation, at the heart of the uninhibited ultra-right
The demonstration, organized in particular by the Young Guard, the Rhône Family Planning or the CGT, Solidaires and FSU unions, continued on the Saône quays, in Old Lyon, considered a bastion of the ultra right.
Beautiful mobilization against far-right violence in Lyon at the call of local organizations.
Several thousand people determined to fight racist and xenophobic hatred that small groups disseminate with complete impunity.
#StopExtremeDroite # 23OctobLyon pic.twitter.com/ocBqENeqyv
- Thomas Portes (@Portes_Thomas) October 23, 2021
The departmental secretary of the Departmental Union CGT du Rhône, Joao Pereira-Afonso, said he was "satisfied that this event brought together so many people to remind loud and clear that Lyon does not welcome these small groups willingly".
"With the various attacks relayed recently, we see a rise in extreme right-wing violence and we have always been against their ideas which go against the interests of employees," he continued.
"A laboratory of the far right"
In their call to demonstrate, the organizers recall that Lyon has been "considered a
laboratory of the far right
for more than 10 years now" and "has suffered multiple attacks from the far right".
"The Lyon situation, which we have been denouncing for several years, is spreading over the whole of the territory", they warn.
One of their demands is the closure of the premises housing extreme right-wing groups, citing the associative bar "La Traboule" and the boxing club "l'Agogé", known to be the strongholds of Generation Identity, an organization which was dissolved in March. latest.