Controversy surrounding the presence of Bally Bagayoko during a high school demonstration in Saint-Denis

In front of a burning trash can, Bally Bagayoko smiles and dances, harangued by around thirty young people, some of whom shout his first name over loudspeakers. The video, filmed Monday September 28 in front of the Paul-Éluard high school in Saint-Denis on the sidelines of the national high school student protest movement, and published by Europe 1, quickly made the rounds on social networks. Other extracts, showing the councilor (La France insoumise) carried by an exalted crowd, have also circulated.

Questioned on Monday by journalists among Dionysian youth, Bally Bagayoko also affirmed that violence could “be legitimate”, before qualifying: “any time we can avoid violence, it is better!”

Critics arose, comparing the mayor to a troublemaker, who would support vandalism in public spaces. “In Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko gives a very strange conception of the responsibility of an elected official,” said Laurent Wauquiez, when Bruno Retailleau believes that “the accession to power of these factions would spell the end of the French Republic.”

“Are you accusing him of being popular?”

Immediately, Bally Bagayoko denounced an unworthy exploitation of the images. He relayed another sequence, broadcast by the video media Brut, where we see him trying to smother the blaze with a cardboard bag. “Contrary to the accusations circulating, I obviously neither lit nor encouraged a trash fire,” the councilor wrote on

On France Inter, Tuesday morning, LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard took up this version at the microphone of Benjamin Duhamel before defending Mayor Insoumis. “You blame him for being popular, Mr. Duhamel?” he asked. “It’s incredible, Bally Bagayoko is criticized for being acclaimed by high school students! I’m happy that it’s popular!”

Beyond the controversy, the mayor's involvement in the high school mobilization and his support for the blockers sparked some harsh comments. On BFMTV, Laurent Nunez deemed the participation of LFI elected officials in these movements “irresponsible”. “I think that young people need to be shown a path which is that of education, respect for internal security forces and non-violence,” said the Minister of the Interior. The mayor of Saint-Denis immediately responded: “irresponsibility is those who try to disqualify the mobilization and demands of high school students from working-class neighborhoods.”