The Rhône prefecture has banned a gathering with the distribution of gifts, planned for this Thursday in Lyon by the influencer Hachemi, due to a “risk of disturbances to public order”. This did not prevent scenes of chaos in the city center, reports Progress.
As part of his “HMI tour”, the Snapchat star with 7.6 million subscribers, accompanied by YouTuber Ibra TV, had planned a “giant hide and seek” in the capital of Gaul from 5 p.m., with the promise of a distribution of 100,000 euros of prizes such as smartphones, watches or electric scooters.
Tear gas and projectiles
But “the previous events organized in Lille and Brussels” by Hachemi “resulted in the gathering of several hundred fans in the greatest disorder […]generating serious disturbances to public order and requiring the intervention of the police in degraded conditions,” noted the prefecture in a decree published this Thursday.
“The team, unfortunately today I will not be able to come and treat you to Lyon,” posted the influencer on Snapchat after the ban, thus canceling the event even though he had shown the gifts a few moments earlier already packaged. The location of the gathering in Lyon had to be revealed at the last minute by Hachemi, and the prefectural ban concerned all of the city's districts. But several hundred fans, mostly very young, nevertheless gathered in the center of Lyon in the middle of the afternoon.
A street and a bridge were partially blocked for a moment by CRS, who used tear gas to disperse some of them after receiving a few projectiles. “I came to meet him and why not get a gift,” explains Sajid, 18, who says he has been following the influencer for two years.
“He does tours, he goes to several countries. It’s funny, they go to Dubai, to Morocco, always with short people,” explains the young man. The popularity of Hachemi, 29, exploded on social networks at the end of 2023 when he launched a competition on Instagram with prizes to be won such as a car, a bag or dozens of smartphones from famous brands.
Precedents already tense in Lille and Brussels
In Brussels, on December 23, the gathering attracted nearly 1,000 young people hoping to leave with gifts, according to the Rhône prefecture. Some had “provoked the police, made threats of vandalism, and the influencers’ bus had been stoned and its windows broken” upon its arrival, the order lists.
He is today a successful influencer, with, in addition to Snapchat, 1.2 million subscribers on Instagram, 460,000 on TikTok, 209,000 on YouTube. He also organizes treasure hunts in Dubai and Miami, and has also founded a coaching platform for young entrepreneurs, MoulaClub.
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