The former presidential candidate had come to sign his latest book in a hotel in the city of Brest on Saturday, June 17, before the session was disrupted. Clashes broke out on the sidelines of the latter between supporters of the far-right polemicist and opponents of his arrival, leading to the arrest of two people and their placement in police custody in the afternoon, confirmed the sub-prefecture of Brest at the end of the day.
About 300 people, including around 60 members of the ultra-left, had gathered at the beginning of the afternoon at the level of the town hall, before going in front of the Oceania hotel, a few hundred meters away, where was organized the signing session of Eric Zemmour. Arrived in front of the hotel, the demonstrators exchanged insults with about thirty sympathizers of the founder of the far-right party Reconquête!, before the blows and throwing of projectiles burst out.
During these clashes, a demonstrator was injured with glass by kicking a window and a supporter of Mr. Zemmour was injured in the forehead, said the sub-prefecture. According to the Finistère firefighters, the latter, aged 19, refused to be evacuated before he could receive a dedication from Mr. Zemmour, “delaying the action of the firefighters accordingly”.
The two demonstrators taken into custody were arrested as they threw a barrier on a hotel window. Law enforcement then dispersed the protesters and set up a perimeter around the facility.
Mr. Zemmour challenges the sub-prefecture
“When I arrived at 1 p.m., the first ‘antifas’ started insulting and threatening me, the police did not intervene,” Zemmour told Agence France-Presse, questioning both the “antifas” and the sub-prefecture.
“They waited 15 hours for the ‘antifas’ to charge with savage violence,” he continued, rejecting any “confrontation” between supporters on both sides, but instead referring to “deliberate, violent, savage aggression.”
According to him, the sub-prefecture “has not done its job” and “is unworthy”. “Either it’s political, out of hostility. Either it is negligence and mediocrity. And in both cases he [the sub-prefect] is guilty,” he added, asking for “explanations and sanctions.”
After the clashes, the signing session of the former Figaro and CNews polemicist continued normally in the middle of the afternoon, his some 100 to 150 supporters entering and leaving the hotel under the protection of the security forces. order, said the sub-prefecture. “All the people who came to attend the dedication were able to do so,” she added.
The far-right politician, whose signing tour has been accompanied by demonstrations by opponents for three months, said he wanted to continue his tour “until the holidays”.