France: We don’t want a fasho here!

Seven defendants go to court in Montpellier: six fascists and an activist who defended their victim

~ Josie Ó Súileabháin ~

Sébastian was enjoying a drink at Le Manchester in the centre of Montpellier when he heard the sound of screaming and the splintering of wood from the opposite end of the terrace. As he came running to the noise, he was suddenly faced with a brutal scene. Fifteen men were standing over two people being beaten on the floor. “They’re fashos,” he said out loud.

“One of them turns around, I had a panic, I feel in immediate danger, I triggered a very disorderly gesture,” Sébastian says during his trial at Montpellier Criminal Court on 10 September. “It’s a punch, sir,” the judge interrupts. Sébastian was tried alongside six members of the far-right group that attacked him, during a trade union and the Bloquons Tout (block everything) demonstration last year.

“Fascism is not an insult,” Sébastian told the prosecutor, “it is a characterisation. When you infiltrate a demonstration to commit abuses, it is fascism.” He went on to detail the clues you use to identify the far-right, including outfits and masked faces, tactics of intimidation and use of “national symbols.” His argument for self-defence was rejected by the court.

The relationship between the police and far-right groups during demonstrations is well documented and clear when understanding the events leading up to the confrontation at Le Manchester on 18 September, 2025. In the trial of six youth fascists and one man who came to the aid of one of their victims, some have questioned why these events were omitted from the trial.

Witness

The time is 13:12 and a report comes over the police radio. Fifty masked men and youths were making their way across the side of the demonstration, marching through the centre of Montpellier with a French flag. They began to gather on a parking lot opposite a school and were stopped by the police, who took the identities of fifteen of the group. Minutes later they were released.

The group immediately crossed the parking lot and headed for Joffre High School. The students of the school had blockaded the entrance with Bloquons Tout but found themselves confronted by members of the group who insulted the children with sexist insults like “big whore… go lose weight.” The Principle of the school ended up sheltering the students within the school and called the police. The group left without any intervention from the authorities, who watched them leave.

After intimidating children, they moved back to the Plaza where the group of now thirty individuals were spotted by a member of the CNT. Over 200 anti-fascists confronted the group until the CRS police took them behind police lines. Identities were then checked again, the authorities claim, although this evidence was also omitted from court. Despite having face coverings (a sentence of one year in prison and a €15,000 fine) they were released again.

The group moved back to the Plaza and one individual moved into the demonstration and started attacking legal observers who were documenting police violence towards protesters with the Bloquons Tout. One observer was punched twice in the neck by the fascist as he tried to break the camera phone used by another observer to document arrests.

The police watched on and allowed the fascist to attack yet another person before moving back to the safety of their group, still standing on the same car park outside of the high school.

‘Very stupid’

“I took part in the trade union demonstration, at the end I went to Le Manchester terrace” said Pierre as he recalls the events to the court. “I saw a large group coming. Some were masked and others wore signs of affiliation to the Génération identitaire. They’ve sat down. Seeing this, I stood up saying we didn’t want a fascist here.”

He was face to face with Zakarya, who then punched Pierre to the ground and continued hitting him as he curled up in a fetal position. Zakarya told the court that Pierre was “very angry” and questioned if he was high on drugs before claiming that Pierre assaulted him first. “He was violent, he was getting closer very quickly,” Zakarya lied to the judge.

“This is not what comes out of the video,” the judge responds, reviewing the CCTV. “He was already on the ground when you hit him, right?” Similarly, Raphael also admits “one or two kicks on the back of the head” to Pierre who was on the ground as well as Hugo, absent from the trial, also admitted to kicking Pierre twice, only after watching the video evidence.

Marvin, another defendant from the far-right group claimed that he attempted to intervene and stop members of his group from attacking Sébastian. In fact, the video showed Marvin hitting Sébastian in the back. Yann, who kicked Sébastian as he came to the defence of Pierre and threw a chair at him, told the court “I didn’t think, it was very stupid.”

‘Absence of conscience’

The court rejected any examination of the political ideologies behind the individuals or at least 35 other members of the group that are unaccounted for. One of the group was identified as Tristan V, a member of the far-right Jeunes D’Oc and formally involved in Génération identitaire. Other young men within this group have also been identified (by activists) as members of the North Face hooligan group, known for their extreme violence.

Hugo’s lawyer portrayed his client as “an 18-year-old who did not appreciate that we attack the French flag… taken to task by the ultra-left” in “a city of the ultra-left.” Along with Raphael and Zakarya, the three youths under the age of 21 will have to pay Pierre €1,500 in damages and served suspended prison sentences of six-months each.

“During my hearing,” said Sébastian, “I felt like the version the police wanted to hear was that I was an Antifa activist.” He was found guilty of violence by the court and issued a fine of €500, €200 more than what was requested by the prosecutor. Despite warnings that this would send a message to fascists that standing up against violence will be punishable by law, the judge and prosecutor avoided any “political debate” that may include police involvement.

“Fasho, it’s an insult,” the prosecutor responded to Sébastian during his trial.

“It’s degrading, it’s invective. Everyone has the right to think what they want, but no-one should insult and hit each other…we are not going on political debates… it is not the context of the demonstration or the political context… (but) the absence of conscience and social intelligence of all these men.”

The actions of the police during the events in Montpellier suggest that fascists could be used as agent provocateurs during social protests. The fact that prosecutors and judges do not question the police’s narratives creates a void of justice that the fashos are waiting to exploit.

Thanks to local investigative reporting from Basta! and Le Poing (Français)

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