Police chief Laurent Nuñez said on Wednesday (November 29th) that he would ban a rally planned for Friday evening in the heart of Paris, launched at the call of an ultra-right group in tribute to young Thomas, killed during a village festival in the Drôme.
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We have rallies that are announced, one in front of the Sorbonne, at the call of a number of ultra-right organizations. Obviously, I'm going to ban it," he said on the sidelines of a press conference on the security of the 2024 Olympics.
'Disturbance of public order'
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In this type of gathering, we have remarks made that are incitement to hatred and violence," he continued to justify the ban. The rally scheduled for Friday evening was launched by Les Natifs, one of the heirs of Génération identitaire, which was dissolved in March 2021. Initially planned in front of the Sorbonne, it has been moved to the Place du Panthéon, the group announced on Wednesday evening on the networks. "Beyond the disturbance of public order represented by the fact of making this type of statement, there are disturbances of material public order, we have seen what happened in Lyon, in Romans-sur-Isère. So obviously I'm going to ban this gathering," Nuñez continued.
Since the death of Thomas, 16, stabbed at the end of a village ball in Crépol (Drôme), a tragedy for which nine young people have been indicted, calls for demonstrations in France from ultra-right groups are multiplying on social networks. Last weekend, about a hundred masked activists from different cities demonstrated violently in the streets of Romans-sur-Isère with the aim of "fighting" with the young people of the Monnaie district, where several of the people implicated in Thomas' death come from.
On Monday evening, eight people were also arrested, suspected of having taken part in an undeclared procession in the city centre of Lyon. Finally, in Paris, six members of the hooligan movement affiliated with the ultra-right, including four with an S file, were arrested on Monday evening during a group of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) supporters. "There is a resurgence of ultra-right rallies in Paris as well. We are extremely attentive," the prefect insisted. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Tuesday that he was calling for the dissolution of three ultra-right groups, including the Martel Division.