Ultra-right activists march in downtown Lyon despite the ban on gatherings, after a rally in support of traders

The prefect says he is “furious at this desire for recovery”. Ultra-right activists marched through downtown Lyon on the evening of Monday, October 19, after a rally in support of law enforcement officers and merchants affected by weekend looting, on the sidelines of protests in many cities in France.

Calls for a rally at Place Bellecour, in support of traders and the police, circulated on Sunday and Monday on social networks, reports Le Progrès. Its original authors are unknown. The parade "was held before the curfew came into force" which affected part of the city center of the metropolis the same night, with "the presence of elected officials in scarves, traders and residents", describes the Rhône prefecture in a press release. Around 500 people gathered around 8 p.m., according to organizers.

This first gathering “took place without any incident” and “was dispersed in such a way as to respect the curfew”, assures the prefect of Rhône, Etienne Guyot. But "at the time of the dispersion, individuals identified a posteriori as belonging to the ultra-right then formed a group after having mixed in an insidious manner with the gathering to recover it", according to the same source.

The activists “then took rue Victor-Hugo towards the exit of the perimeter, taking out a banner, and dispersed around 9 p.m. at Place Carnot, which is not included in the curfew perimeter,” reports the prefecture. And this despite the ban on gatherings imposed by the prefecture from 6 p.m. (the first gathering was not able to read the decree given its late publication, according to the prefecture cited by Le Progrès).

In a video published on social networks, authenticated by the France Télévisions "Revealers" team, we hear the activists chanting "Avant, avant, Lyon le melhor", the historic war cry of the city which has become a rallying cry for Lyon's identity activists. One of them carries a French flag on which a Celtic cross has been drawn, another symbol used by the ultra-right. "No disturbance to public order was then reported in the short time of this group's wandering", assures Etienne Guyot, who affirms that he "will not accept any expression which falls within the scope of the law (...) and any gathering which would generate a disturbance to public order".

“I strongly condemn this gathering and the hateful slogans that were chanted there,” responded the mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, in a press release. “While Lyon is going through difficult times, we need appeasement, not new tensions,” insists the mayor, for whom “the rules must be the same for everyone”.