After the violent demonstrations last weekend in response to the death of Thomas on November 19 in Drôme, Gérald Darmanin announced this Tuesday, November 28 that he wanted to dissolve three small far-right groups.
After a weekend marked by violent rallies by the far right in certain large cities in France, the Minister of the Interior spoke this Tuesday, November 28 at the microphone of France Inter. This morning, Gérald Darmanin announced that he was going to “propose the end of various small groups”. He notably mentioned the Division Martel group, an informal far-right group active in Île-de-France and known for its violence, before specifying that it was impossible for him for the moment to name the other two but assured that They “are directly linked to far-right mobilizations.”
This announcement follows demonstrations last weekend, notably in Romans-sur-Isère in the Monnaie district where some suspects linked to the death of the 16-year-old teenager in Crépol come from. The far-right demonstrators were stopped by the police who arrested certain activists. Six of them were placed in pre-trial detention.
Similar demonstrations took place in other cities in France. Particularly in Lyon on Monday November 27 in the evening despite the ban on gatherings by the prefecture. Eight people were arrested and taken into custody after this demonstration. The minister welcomed the fact that France “has thus avoided an Irish-style scenario, a scenario of a small civil war” in reference to the riots which broke out in Dublin after a knife attack.
On France Inter this Tuesday morning, Gérald Darmanin clarified that he “would not let any militia, whether far-right or any radical movement, make the law in place of the public prosecutors and the police and gendarmes. The minister also indicated that Thomas’ death “should not allow anyone else to stand up in the name of the State to do justice.”