400 to 800 “elements at risk” on the courses in France?

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400 to 800 elements at risk on the courses in

MAY 1, 2024. The traditional May 1 demonstrations are taking place almost everywhere in France this Wednesday. A confidential intelligence note would have highlighted a “tense geopolitical context”, but a limited risk of excesses…

The essential

  • Day of demonstrations this Monday May 1 2024 in France. For the traditional Labor Day, the unions called with one voice to march in all cities. Nearly 260 processions are expected.

  • May 1 promises to be calmer this year than last year, when the parades arrived after the entry into force of the highly contested pension reform. According to the information, it “does not present as such a proven risk in terms of public order”.

  • The authorities nevertheless anticipated yesterday 400 to 800 “elements at risk” in processions numbering 120,000 to 150,000 people throughout France and a few dozen in the Parisian demonstration.

  • Follow May 1 demonstrations live across the country.

Live

10:55 – Jean-Luc Mélenchon will speak from Place de la République in Paris at 2 p.m.

The leader of France Insoumise announces that he will make a speech at 2 p.m. at Place de la République in Paris, where the demonstration is to begin and will end at Place de la Nation.

10:27 – An “opportunity to say that society only runs thanks to our work”, believes the CGT

This May 1st is “the opportunity to say that society only runs thanks to our work and that it must be recognized and remunerated”, believes the general secretary of the CGT Sophie Binet on RMC. “We are going to mobilize for salaries but also to denounce the social breakdown led by the government and the employers (…) we are mobilizing everywhere to obtain salary increases because what we see is that our “Wages are collapsing in the face of inflation and above all that, unfortunately, they do not follow the same curves as the bosses’ salaries or the shareholders’ dividends,” she lamented.

10:10 – “400 to 800” elements at risk

According to an intelligence note, “400 to 800” elements at risk could join the demonstrations. In Rennes, Nantes, Lyon, Toulouse and Grenoble, ultra-right groups are expected. “Politicized students” coming from the “ultra-left” should also be counted in number.

09:50 – 12,000 police and gendarmes mobilized

Demonstrations “of a rather festive and family nature” are expected according to a police source. The gatherings could be “more peaceful” than last year. 12,000 police officers and gendarmes are mobilized, including 5,000 in Paris.

09:28 – Between 120,000 and 150,000 demonstrators expected throughout France

A territorial intelligence memo estimates that there will be between 120,000 and 150,000 French people demonstrating today.

In Paris, the meeting was held at 2 p.m. this Wednesday, May 1, at Place de la République and the demonstration route was directed towards Place de la Nation, passing Boulevard Voltaire. CGT, CFDT, Unsa, FSU and Solidaires are at the origin of the procession which expected between 15,000 and 30,000 people yesterday according to a police source. The fear of seeing a few hundred radical demonstrators – 400 to 800 “risk elements” – was also palpable at the time of the preparations.

Ahead of the May 1 demonstration, the police headquarters announced a restricted traffic system, between the Places de la République, de la Bastille and de la Nation, boulevards du Temple, des Filles du Calvaire, Beaumarchais, Diderot, from rue de Lyon and avenue Daumesnil. The prefecture strongly recommended that motorists avoid the area widely for the duration of the event, from 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.

A little less than 260 demonstrations have been scheduled in France for May 1, 2024. Parades have been planned in all major cities, but not only that. Here is the list of the main processions listed by the CFDT:

This year, the May Day protests were the subject of particular intelligence attention. According to Le Parisien, they estimated between 120,000 to 150,000 the number of participants in the processions this Wednesday, therefore 15,000 to 30,000 to walk the streets of the capital. A confidential note would have underlined a “tense geopolitical context”, with the Olympic Games approaching, a conflict which continues in Ukraine, but also and above all the war in Gaza which is beginning to cause tensions in France.

If the pro-Palestinian student mobilization is in people’s minds, forecasts have nevertheless announced a smaller and less violent mobilization than in 2023, the fight against pension reform being at its strongest at the time, or almost. Some 400 to 800 “risk elements” were still feared by the authorities on the eve of the demonstrations, mainly linked to the ultra-left, while no ultra-right movement had yet been detected. BFMTV assured Tuesday that information anticipated “limited” abuses this year and that “this event does not as such present a proven risk in terms of public order”.

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