Calls to take to the streets have already been launched for this Sunday, July 7, 2024 in several cities in France, despite the authorities’ bans.
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19:58 – A large police force deployed in France
The government has deployed a heavy security force for this Sunday evening throughout France, to deal with the excesses caused by wild demonstrations that could break out, whatever the results of these historic elections. Throughout France, 30,000 police officers and gendarmes are mobilized, while in Paris and its suburbs there will be nearly 5,000. This force will remain in place until at least July 16, a police source announced to AFP on Thursday.
19:21 – Warning messages sent to the population
According to AFP, the mutual insurer Matmut, which has nearly 2.8 million car insurance contracts, called on its customers to be vigilant via a text message sent on Friday, in anticipation of possible disturbances this Sunday evening that could lead to damage to property. “Legislative elections. Stay vigilant. Vehicle under cover and park far from gatherings,” it wrote to its customers.
19:04 – “Real risks of public order disturbances” in Nantes
INF Nanteslocal media, mentions “real risks of public order disturbances after the second round” in Nantes. The intelligence services have expressed their fears, quoted by AFP, concerning “real risks of public order disturbances after the second round with both gatherings that could give rise to incidents but also risks of clashes between antagonistic groups”. Public order disturbances could occur according to the prefecture. It adds that several hundred to thousands of people are expected in the city of the dukes. In a decree dated July 4, it prohibits in particular the carrying and transport of objects that could constitute a weapon, fireworks as well as the removal and transport of any fuel. One of the motivations is the fact that violent individuals could join this undeclared demonstration and cause violence against the police or damage to property. The new trams will not run in Nantes for fear of excesses after the legislative elections this Sunday, July 7
18:57 – LGBT organizations concerned about their rights
LGBT rights groups that have demonstrated against the far right over the past two weeks say they are very worried if the National Rally wins this Sunday. The RN in power “would be very serious for our rights,” warned the president of Fierté Marseille Organisation, who denounced a program that is “anti-gay marriage, anti-PMA (medically assisted procreation), anti-GPA (gestational surrogacy), anti-adoption” and “transphobic.”
18:49 – Demonstrations banned in the hypercentre of Toulouse
For fear of unrest following the results of the second round of the legislative elections, the prefect of Haute-Garonne has banned gatherings and demonstrations in the hypercentre of Toulouse this Sunday evening since 6 p.m. This ban particularly concerns the boulevards of Strasbourg, Arcole, the allées François Verdier and Charles de Fitte, the Saint-Michel and Catalans bridges. Prefect Pierre-André Durand who, moreover, authorises the police to use drones on certain boulevards, avenues and on the A64 and A620 motorways in particular.
18:28 – “The far left has always acted through violence” according to Marine Le Pen
On France 2 on June 26, Marine Le Pen had indicated that she feared unrest if her party won the second round of the legislative elections. “If, to our great misfortune, the far left won these legislative elections, there would not be a single demonstration in the streets. If we win the legislative elections, then yes, there will probably be demonstrations in the streets, so it is the far left that is responsible for this,” she added. According to the leader of the RN deputies, it is “the far left (which) has always acted through violence.”
6:03 p.m. – Marine Tondelier “extremely worried about this evening”
Marine Tondelier, the leader of the environmentalists, said she was “extremely worried about this evening” after calls for violent action were broadcast on various far-right channels. Several cities in the country are already said to be targeted.
I am extremely worried about tonight.
Let’s look out for each other. Everywhere. All the time.
Our solidarity must be total with those who are targeted, very explicitly, by these threats of extreme violence.
CC @Interieur_Gouv https://t.co/noOOURKifJ
— Marine Tondelier (@marinetondelier) July 7, 2024
17:56 – Several calls for demonstrations
Many protesters are preparing to take to the streets of France following the results of this historic second round of the legislative elections on July 7, which could see the National Rally (RN) come to power. Over the past two weeks, rallies have broken out almost every day across France, from Lille to Toulouse, via Rennes, Nantes, Lyon… This Sunday evening, the police fear a “hardening” on the part of “extremist movements whatever the result, whether it is to rejoice in the victory of one camp or to denounce the victory of the other camp”.
Nearly 43 million voters are called to the polls this Sunday, July 7, 2024, the fateful date of the second round of early legislative elections since the dissolution of the National Assembly wanted by Emmanuel Macron. Following this historic vote, a victory for the National Rally could plunge France into a climate of great tension, with some French people fearing that Jordan Bardella’s party will restrict freedoms.
Already in the inter-round elections, numerous demonstrations, organized or spontaneous, have broken out all over France against the far-right party, the largest at the Place de la République in Paris, but also in Rennes, Lille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse and in smaller towns in France. These demonstrations are led by the entire left, at the call of the unions but also at the initiative of independent media and hundreds of associations.
A solid police force deployed this Sunday evening
Since the first round of the legislative elections, numerous attacks and violence against candidates and activists have emerged, raising fears of many more incidents to come, regardless of the outcome of the ballot boxes. This Sunday evening, nearly 30,000 police officers and gendarmes, including 5,000 in Paris, were mobilized, at the request of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who himself said he “fears incidents” after the second round.
In nearly twenty cities including Paris, intelligence services are predicting the outbreak of wild processions. Indeed, according to a police source at the Figarothey expect a “hardening” on the part of “extremist movements whatever the result, whether it is to rejoice in the victory of one camp or to denounce the victory of the other camp”.
“The police forces mobilized are placed in a configuration such that they will be able to deal with any situation,” a senior police official told AFP on Friday. This substantial system for managing public order disturbances remains in place “until at least July 16.” In Bordeaux, the Gironde prefecture has even authorized the use of drones until Tuesday to secure the city center in the face of “extreme risks that these gatherings could cause for the safety of people.”
In case of RN victory, Marine Le Pen fears demonstrations from the “extreme left”
At Place Stalingrad in Paris in the 20th arrondissement, a rally of La France Insoumise will be held this Sunday evening. In the event of a victory by the RN, Marine Le Pen has indicated that she expects demonstrations by the “extreme left” and according to the intelligence services, attacks by the police are very likely with “the risk that these incidents will turn into urban violence in certain areas”.
We still remember, during the election of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, many excesses broke out in the cities of France on the fringes of the demonstrations, particularly in the Paris region. In Paris, nearly 2,000 people gathered at Place de la Bastille according to the police, the demonstrators throwing fireworks and bottles at the police who had used tear gas.