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Brawl on the sidelines of Éric Zemmour's election rally
Photo: COLIN BERTIER;
AURELIA MOUSSLY;
LAURA DIAB / AFP
The extreme right-wing publicist Éric Zemmour wants to run for the French presidential election in April 2022.
Now there have been riots and protests at an election campaign event near Paris, Zemmour himself was slightly injured, according to his team.
As an employee of the French presidential candidate of the AFP news agency said on Sunday, the 63-year-old suffered a wrist injury when a man forcibly grabbed him on the way to the stage.
After the incident, Zemmour was celebrated by thousands of fans.
Opponents of the right-wing candidate streamed in front of the event hall in Villepinte on Sunday, where a police presence kept counter-demonstrators at a distance, as could be seen on TV pictures.
More than 10,000 supporters of the extremist gathered in the exhibition hall, where Zemmour announced the name of his new movement »Reconquête«.
France was on the brink of the abyss and the existence of the French was threatened, a "bigger fight than we" was necessary to save, said Zemmour.
The publicist sometimes represents extremely anti-migration and nationalist positions and has therefore already been convicted twice for sedition.
"You are 15,000 today"
"If I win, this will be the beginning of the reconquest of the most beautiful country in the world," promised Zemmour.
"You are 15,000 today," Zemmour shouted to the cheering crowd.
"15,000 French who defied political correctness, the threats of the extreme left and the hatred of the media."
There was violence in the hall during a protest by activists of the organization "SOS Racisme".
They got up in the hall and were wearing T-shirts with the words "No to racism" on.
They were then beaten, according to AFP correspondents.
Video images showed tumultuous scenes in which fists and chairs flew and the counter-demonstrators were forced out.
Two of them were bleeding when they were led out of the hall.
"We wanted to organize a non-violent protest," said Aline Kremer, who had organized the action, the AFP.
"People rushed and beat them." The team from a critical TV show was booed and taken out of the hall by security forces.
There was a demonstration against Zemmour in front of the hall.
"It is important to show that we will not allow fascism to gain ground"
According to the prefecture, around 2,200 people also protested in Paris against Zemmour, whom they accused of racism.
An alliance of dozens of trade unions, parties and associations had called for the demonstration.
The organizers spoke of 10,000 participants.
"It is important to show that we do not allow fascism to gain ground," said a spokesman for the Solidaires union.
Zemmour has been stirring up the pre-election campaign in France for weeks.
The former journalist, who comes from an Algerian-Jewish family, is given the chance to make it into the runoff election against incumbent Emmanuel Macron instead of right-wing populist Marine Le Pen.
In the polls, he had temporarily overtaken Le Pen, who was defeated by Macron in the runoff election in 2017.
Recently, however, his campaign stalled.
mrc / dpa / AFP
