Videos spreading across social media appear to show counter-protestors taking to the streets of France, described as affiliated with “right-wing” groups, in an attempt to dispel leftist rioting that has overtaken cities.
The New York Post reports that more than half a million people “flooded” French streets over the weekend across 140 distinct protests, with looting, arson, vandalism, and clashes with overwhelmed police, ostensibly to demand “major spending concessions in the cost of living, as well as in higher education, teacher salaries, rising living costs, and to protect pensions and public services from budget cuts.” Cars, city halls, schools, and more have all been targets.
The spectacle was an escalation of protests that began earlier this month and quickly turned violent, forcing the closure of hundreds of schools as rioters set buildings on fire and desecrated religious and historical monuments.
“Let them come and get me!” French president Emmanuel Macron has reportedly declared in response. “There is no place for violence in the Republic. Those who broke, attacked and looted will be brought to justice and punished. To the law enforcement authorities, who enable the right to protest, I express the nation’s support. We will stand united against those who sow chaos.”
Over the weekend, videos have begun to spread across X of another faction: counter-protesters, marching in cities such as Lyon and Rouen, to confront the protestors with defiant chants of “this is our home” and “the street belongs to us,” singing of the French national anthem, and at least one rally in support of small businesses devastated by the violence. At least one video shows violence breaking out between the two sides.
It is not yet clear who all is participating or what level of organization is behind the response, but one symbol that can be spotted in the footage is a flag bearing a Celtic cross, commonly used by several “ultra-nationalist” French movements. The Guardian reports that “far-right” leaders such as Marine Le Pen have blamed the chaos on ineffective left-wing governance and the consequences of uncontrolled mass migration.
Fox News reports that, contrary to sympathetic framing of the initial leftist protests as a student uprising, it has identified “101 organizations across 9 countries – including the U.S. – that are coordinating, organizing or amplifying protests in Europe,” more than two-thirds of which are led by adults rather than students.
Further, the organizers “represent a nexus of the ‘red-green’ alliance, merging Islamist organizations that are symbolized by the color green, and far-left, communist and socialist groups represented by the color red,” including several groups that embrace the “Antifa” label, such as Action AntiFa16.
The Associated Press reports that Paris saw a night of calm on Tuesday after the arrests of more than 2,000 people and the imposition of curfews, though it remains to be seen how long the lull will last. The French National Assembly is opening an investigation into the outbreak and police response.