Nantes: Against the far right, against the state and capital
L’Obs / Saturday 22 January 2022
Two people were arrested, one of whom was taken into custody, following incidents on the sidelines of an “antifa” demonstration that brought together more than 600 people in downtown Nantes on Friday 21 January, police sources said.
A torchlight march started at around 7pm, gathering around 600 people “against fascism, capitalism, authoritarianism”, with smoke and fireworks.
The protesters chanted “Down with the state, the cops and the fascists”, according to videos posted on Twitter.
The window of a Zara shop was smashed and the front of a Monoprix was damaged, according to a police source. Projectiles were thrown at the police, who responded by firing tear gas.
The demonstration then moved towards a “bar known for hosting far-right activists”, according to the “autonomous media” Nantes Révoltée.
A waiter and a bar customer were injured in an altercation with the antifa activists but they did not wish to file a complaint, according to police sources. […].
At the same time, a mass in memory of Louis XVI, guillotined on 21 January 1793, was held “without disorder” at the church of Saint-Clément, not far from the demonstration procession, according to police sources [Note of Attaque: the mass was organised by the Action Française monarchists; at the same time, near there, there was a public meeting of the Rassemblement National, two straws that broke the camel’s back, but, given the mood of the times, there are plenty of reasons…].
France Info / Saturday 22 January 2022
[…] Kevin, one of the managers of the Irish pub, a bar in the centre of Nantes that faces the cathedral, is not happy. On this Saturday morning, he can only see the damage. All the windows of the establishment have been blown out. And it’s not the first time.
“We suffer from a reputation that does not reflect our state of mind. We are not fascists, we have always defended marriage for all. They have the wrong target”. The day after the nightly demonstration, Kevin is very upset when he looks at the façade. […]
600 people met at the tram crossroads to denounce “the government’s health policy and the rampant ideas of the extreme right that are plaguing the country”. A call launched on social networks that brought together antifa, students but also anti-vaxers.
Torch in hand, the demonstration had nevertheless begun in a calm and rather good-natured atmosphere.
The march was intended to be peaceful and to denounce “the nauseating ideas of the extreme right which are gaining more and more ground in France”.
It was when they reached a shopping street in the centre of Nantes that things got out of hand. The first window, that of a ready-to-wear store, was partially smashed, immediately provoking a charge by the police, who used tear gas.
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And the Interior wants to take revenge on the media Nantes Révoltée
Ouest-France / Tuesday 25 January 2022
Will the Nantes Revoltée group soon be dissolved? The process is underway, says Gerald Darmanin. The Minister of the Interior was answering questions from MPs this Tuesday at the National Assembly. Questioned by the deputy of Nantes Valérie Oppelt on the subject of the far-left collective, whose dissolution was requested by several elected officials in Nantes after the outbursts of the “anti-fascist” demonstration on Friday. Gerald Darmanin announced that a study group has been formed at the Ministry of the Interior to gather contradictory elements with a view to proposing the dissolution of Nantes Revoltée to the Council of Ministers.
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Nîmes: Fascists hide (once again) behind the CRS
France Bleu / Friday 21 January 2022
Eric Zemmour’s supporters gathered, as they had announced, this Friday evening in a brewery in Nimes. Opponents came to demonstrate. A fight broke out [Note from Attaque: the CNT Nîmes speaks of an aggression suffered by the anti-fascist demonstrators from the Nazis, notably members of the Ligue du Midi].
A cordon of CRS surrounded the Brasserie de la Grande Bourse, at the foot of the arena in Nîmes on Friday evening. The police intervened after a fight broke out between Eric Zemmour’s supporters and demonstrators; about forty opponents of this meeting are gathered. The members and supporters of the departmental federation Reconquête, in the Gard, took refuge and barricaded themselves inside the brewery.
A priori, there are no serious injuries. On the other hand, there are at least two light injuries, one of which was gassed and has serious bruises on his face.
[Translated by Act for freedom now!]
