The photo was taken during anti-vaccination pass protests in mid-January in Paris and shows several hundred people making a gesture that looked like a Nazi salute. The snapshot went viral on the networks and shocked a lot, to the point of triggering a report to justice by the police headquarters. The case was finally dismissed. But it was immediately taken over by the far right.
This is the typical example of the photo trap. The photo, taken during a demonstration against the vaccine pass, shows a crowd with outstretched arms, like ” nazi salute “, behind a banner and a flag marked with the Celtic cross, a symbol that nationalist, neo-fascist groups have appropriated for a long time.
This is actually a screenshot, taken from a video that shows something else entirely. The group dressed in black filmed in Paris that day advances, clapping their hands and stretching out both arms. What is called a ” clapping “. It was the Icelandic football fans who initiated this practice in the stadiums.
And besides, when we see them do it, the supporters do not stretch their arms forward, but rather to the sides. In addition, the photo is blurred, so that we do not see the faces, and that we see practically only one outstretched arm, which immediately suggests the Nazi salute, even if it does not correspond to the reality of the filmed gesture.
Recovery by the far right
Florian Philippot, leader of the Les Patriotes party and presidential candidate, very active in this mobilization against the vaccine pass, tweeted the video showing the clapping and criticized the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin for having lied by relaying the photo. It is indeed the minister who requested a report in court, saying he was shocked by this image.
The summary of the scene by Florian Philippot is nevertheless also misleading. ” Clap your hands and shout freedom! This is what was on the blurred photo of Mr. Darmanin writes Florian Philippot on Twitter.
► Read also: France: Florian Philippot, the man who is surfing the anti-sanitary pass wave
The former number 2 of the FN forgets the acronym that we see at the head of this procession, generally displayed by the extreme right groups among the most violent, and the slogan on the banner: “ Freedoms are not granted, they are taken “. A quote from Charles Maurras, the founder of Action Française. This group, created at the end of the 19th century in the midst of the Dreyfus affair, continues today to divulge its ultranationalist and anti-Semitic theses.
The photo relayed on Twitter was first published on Telegram messaging, in a group called ” casual west “. The members of small groups, some of which have recently been banned in France, Generation Identity or the Zouaves of Paris known for their violent actions. Their leader Marc Cacquerey-Valmenier was actually present at the anti-pass rally at the call of Florian Philippot, while a judicial control measure prohibits him from participating in any demonstration since his involvement in the violence against the militants of SOS racism during a meeting of Éric Zemmour.
Obvious manipulation
We cannot prove that the photo was intentionally retouched in order to show a Nazi salute, but the way in which the blurring was practiced is inevitably misleading. A result that does not seem to bother the authors of the publication on Telegram, quite the contrary.
By scrutinizing the publications of this group “ casual west “, we come across all kinds of symbols of ultra-right neo-Nazi tendencies: swastikas, Celtic crosses, black suns and even representations of the Ku Klux Klan, coming from all over Europe.
The group marching under this banner does not hide its sympathies. We also note the complacency towards them of the alternative Russian media RT news and Sputnik which headlines on “ The double lie of Darmanin and the media that make anti-passes look like neo-Nazis ». While in reality, it is indeed minority extremist groups, but radicals, having infiltrated the anti-pass movement, as they had infiltrated the movement of yellow vests, for brilliant actions, such as the ransacking of the Arc de Triomphe in November 2018.