On social networks, the call for “a popular celebration” was launched in the wake of the announcement by the Union Pirate student union, hoping “that he takes his ideas to his grave”. The death of Jean-Marie Le Pen, this Tuesday, January 7, was marked by a demonstration at Place Sainte-Anne, in the historic center of Rennes.
From 8 p.m., while the metro station had been closed, several dozen people joined the meeting place. Fireworks and confetti were set off as protesters danced around a burning trash can. “Rennes, Rennes, antifa”, they chanted in particular.
Police intervention
Present on site, the police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, giving rise to the traditional game of cat and mouse in the adjacent streets for part of the evening. Some activists, their faces hidden, tried to erect barricades to slow down the advance of the police, shouting “everyone hates the police”. At the time of writing, it is unknown whether any arrests have been made.
Similar scenes have been reported in particular in Paris, described as “shameful” by the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, for whom “nothing justifies dancing on a corpse”. The death of the man who was president of the National Front for four decades sparked numerous reactions from the political class, with the far right seeing him as a “visionary”, the left as an “abject being”, and the executive as a “figure”. historical”.
