In Lyon, the ultra-right marches just before curfew, the prefect “furious” about “recovery”

The prefect of Rhône declared himself "furious" on Tuesday, the day after the brief parade of an ultra-right group following a rally in support of traders and the police, Monday evening in Lyon, as the curfew began.

The prefect, Étienne Guyot, “is furious at this desire for recovery,” the prefecture said in a statement sent to the press. The rally in support of traders, which was intended to be apolitical, was held at Place Bellecour "before the curfew came into force, with the presence of elected officials in scarves", state services point out, and dispersed "in order to respect (it)".

Around 500 people, according to organizers, gathered around 8 p.m. after Saturday's violence and looting, which affected more than 150 businesses on the Lyon peninsula. The Rhône prefecture had announced shortly before the ban on demonstrations from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the city center and the establishment of a curfew from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. Tuesday. “At the time of the dispersion, individuals identified a posteriori as belonging to the ultra-right then formed a group after having mingled in an insidious manner with the gathering to recover it,” the prefecture then reported.

According to a video broadcast by the Lyon Capitale website, the procession marched chanting in particular “The street, France belongs to us” and “The scum in prison”. Another video on social networks shows the head of the group holding a banner "Anticassseurs Lyon" and "Doucet resignation", which had been seen on a grid during the support rally, and also a tricolor flag crossed out with a Celtic cross, symbol of small ultra-right groups.

The environmentalist mayor of Lyon ruled this Tuesday morning, strongly condemning this gathering and the hateful slogans which were chanted there. “While Lyon is going through difficult times, we need appeasement, not new tensions,” he added. The rules must be the same for everyone. I renewed my request to the prefect to apply the rules of the rule of law as rigorously as possible and I also asked the Minister of the Interior to guarantee republican order. »

The group of a few dozen people then headed towards the exit of the curfew perimeter, and dispersed around 9 p.m. outside the prescribed zone, according to elements of the prefecture. The prefect assures that he “will not accept any expression which falls within the scope of the law because it would constitute a call to hatred and any gathering which would generate a disturbance of public order”.