a demonstration against the extreme right under tension
At the call of various civil organizations, a demonstration was organized this Saturday, October 23 against the extreme right, in Lyon. The procession passed through the district of Vieux Lyon, which extremist groups like their territory.
To fight against violence from far-right movements, they chose Lyon. Various political figures and citizens made the trip, this Saturday, October 23, to demonstrate “against extreme right-wing violence”. The procession, which left at 2:30 p.m. from Place Bellecour in Lyon, crossed the district of Vieux Lyon, a territory that has become, in recent years, a stronghold of the identity movement.
Symbolic crossing of Vieux Lyon
According to the prefecture, 1,800 people demonstrated in the streets of Lyon against the extreme right this Saturday afternoon. place, many smoke bombs, and slogans continuing as “Everyone hates fascists!”, that the demonstrators address in particular to the members of the former Generation Identitaire collective. But in the middle of the afternoon, there were no clashes with individuals close to far-right movements, as the procession crossed Vieux Lyon *, symbolically. The district has been invested, for several years, by various organizations or associations close to far-right movements.
At the start of the demonstration, the first tensions finally opposed the demonstrators and the “yellow vests”, who wanted to lead the procession. In a tense context, the parade finally left as planned from Place Bellecour, to cross Vieux Lyon and reach Place des Terreaux.
The demonstrators responded to the call of trade unions, political parties, as well as various associations and collectives, to denounce “The multiple attacks of the extreme right”. Among the demonstrators, national political figures had announced their presence, such as LFI (France Insoumise) deputies Eric Coquerel or Manon Aubry, or even the recent EELV primary candidate Sandrine Rousseau.
* This article is updated in real time
Big mobilization against extreme right-wing violence in #Lyon. # 23OctoberLyon # 23oct pic.twitter.com/yCQ4hRbzzP
– Ricardo Parreira (@RicardParreir) 23 October 2021
Lyonnais, “a laboratory of the extreme right”
The motivations of the demonstration are notably relayed in a published column on the Mediapart site, in which several collectives identify Lyon as “a laboratory of the extreme right”. “For more than 10 years now, [Lyon] suffered multiple attacks from the extreme right (racist, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic attacks, knife attacks, demonstrations attacks, bookstore attacks, LGBTIphobic attacks, etc.). We have seen in recent days, in Lyon and elsewhere, in recent weeks, an acceleration of this violence, even going as far as planned attacks. The Lyon situation, which we have been denouncing for several years, is spreading over the whole of the territory “, they believe in this forum. The organizers thus called to denounce these acts, and demanded the closure of several premises in Vieux Lyon, known to be occupied by associations or organizations of the extreme right.
The Rhône prefecture, which authorized this event and its route, is still accused of exercising “a game of trouble” by the authors of the tribune, who accuse him of “let the fascosphere develop”. Last March, the state declared the dissolution of the extreme right-wing group Generation Identity, emblematic of the radical extreme right. But this decision did not receive various attacks attributed to extremist movements, such as the attack on a libertarian bookstore (La plume noire) in the neighborhood near Croix Rousse, two weeks later, and clashes between identity groups. and anti-fascists.