Marches are scheduled for Saturday, September 23 in different cities in France during demonstrations “against systemic racism, police violence and for public freedoms,” at the call of the far left and various organizations, under close surveillance by security forces. the order.
According to a territorial intelligence note, consulted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), 24,000 to 30,000 participants, for 116 unit marches throughout the territory, are expected during this event launched at the initiative of around a hundred union, political and other collectives from working-class neighborhoods.
Risks of disturbances to public order are mentioned in Gap (Hautes-Alpes), in Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), in Lille (North), in Dijon (Côte-d'Or), in Vandoeuvre-lès- Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle), in Angers (Maine-et-Loire), in Caen (Calvados), in Angoulême (Charente), in Tulle (Corrèze), in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), in Grenoble (Isère) , in Bordeaux (Gironde), in Saint-Etienne (Loire), in Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire), in Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and in Villeurbanne (Rhône).
Territorial intelligence also mentions risks of unrest in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), where an anti-drug rally near the unitary march is organized by the ultra-right. Clashes are thus to be feared with the ultra-left, specifies the note.
Up to 135 mobile force units
The Ministry of the Interior mobilized for this day – also marked by the presence of Pope Francis in Marseille, which follows a three-day state visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla – between 130 and 135 force units mobile, i.e. a total of 30,000 police and gendarmes.
In Paris, “a little more than 1,000 police officers will be mobilized,” said the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nuñez, on Saturday morning on Franceinfo.
Gérald Darmanin sent a letter of support to the police and gendarmes on Friday and sent a telegram to the prefects, of which AFP had a copy, calling on them to "exercise particular vigilance regarding these gatherings", to issue an order of ban if necessary and to report messages “carrying insulting and outrageous slogans against the institutions of the Republic, the police and the gendarmerie likely to fall within the scope of the law”.
On Friday, the Vienne prefecture seized the Poitiers prosecutor for “public insult” for a poster announcing a demonstration against police violence which associated a swastika with the logo of the national police.
In Paris, 3,000 to 6,000 people are expected, including 200 to 400 considered possible sources of trouble, according to a police source cited by AFP. The march will leave at 2:30 p.m. from Gare du Nord, in the northeast of the city. The Techno Parade will also take place, the parade will take place from Denfert-Rochereau, left bank, to Place de la Nation. In 2022, there were 250,000 who celebrated in the streets of the capital, according to the organizers.
