Act 2Who gets protection?

On October 24, people returned for wages, purchasing power, public services and the future of education. The Interior Ministry counted 410,000 nationally; the CGT counted 800,000. In Paris, the corresponding estimates were 110,000 and 250,000. I keep both columns visible. Choosing the smaller figure as the natural headline already makes an editorial choice. Averaging them would manufacture a third count that nobody measured.

Evidence: France 24 / AFP · October 24

The Paris march travelled from Porte d’Italie to Porte de Vincennes. France 24’s reporter described a largely good-natured atmosphere before clashes at the end of the route. In Nantes, access to the centre was blocked at a bridge; in Lyon, police dispersed an initial gathering at Jean-Macé and later groups moved through restricted streets. The geography matters. Moving a procession away from the centre changes its audience, its visibility and the practical cost of taking part.

Evidence: France 24 / AFP · October 24

Franceinfo reconstructed the afternoon from authenticated videos, photographs, witnesses and Telegram audio. At 16:34 in rue de la Loge, men including white-cloth wearers struck a demonstrator and threw projectiles while a nearby CRS line did not intervene. When demonstrators advanced again, police charged; some men with white cloth followed them, while others had passed behind the police line. At 16:41, one participant brought an arrested demonstrator’s bag to police. At 17:29 near the tourist office, men dragged a demonstrator toward CRS and one kicked him while police arrested the victim and allowed the assailants to leave. These sequences deserve more attention than the comfortable word “clashes.”

Evidence: Alexia Low and Mathilde Texier · Franceinfo investigation, October 30

1. 16:34

   Rue de la Loge

   Assaults and projectiles beside a nearby CRS line.

2. 16:41

   Rue de la Loge

   A participant brings an arrested demonstrator’s bag to police.

3. 17:29

   Tourist office

   Men drag a demonstrator toward police; one kicks him.

What strikes me in these images is the difference in freedom of movement. Some men strike people, move behind police lines and return. Others are held down and arrested. Franceinfo obtained audio in which an administrator praised cooperation and coordination with police. Nuñez denied that police protected or worked with far-right militants. His denial belongs beside the recorded sequence, where readers can judge how well it explains it. I see unequal protection in those scenes. I want accountability for the officers, their instructions and the treatment of the people being attacked.

Evidence: Alexia Low and Mathilde Texier · Franceinfo investigation, October 30

The Interior Ministry acknowledged far-right groups in Nice, Montpellier, Nancy and around ten other cities, and acknowledged that members were not systematically arrested. In Nice, the prefecture described roughly a hundred masked militants converging to confront marchers. AFP reported eleven suspected far-right members among fifty-nine people in custody; those eleven had been stopped before the violence. Rouen has a separate record: Le Monde examined footage, interviewed people describing assaults and reported an aggravated-violence investigation. Its account includes video of men attacking someone on the ground while police were nearby. Putting the cities together reveals a serious problem; keeping their evidence distinct makes that argument stronger.

Evidence: AFP / La République du Centre · October 25 · Jérôme Lefilliâtre · Le Monde, October 30

Far-right attacks do not exhaust this Saturday. In Toulouse, a twenty-year-old suffered a serious hand injury during confrontations at dispersal. The prefecture confirmed the injury; a street medic described fingers torn away after an explosion nearby. Shops were damaged in Grenoble, and officers faced projectiles in several cities. I want the injured person to remain visible when the debate becomes a competition over damaged property. Public protection includes protesters facing far-right attackers, officers facing violence and people trapped between them.

Evidence: France 24 / AFP · October 24

The justification offered by the groups was the protection of shops. That wording gives a private group a public mission before anyone has asked who authorized it, who it threatens or who can make it stop. My concern is how easily some violent actors appear compatible with the language of order while others are immediately named as its enemies. The first Saturday brought grievances together. The second forces a sharper question about whose safety public power actually secures.

Evidence: Alexia Low and Mathilde Texier · Franceinfo investigation, October 30 · AFP / La République du Centre · October 25