Despite the sticky atmosphere, 2,000 demonstrated against the far right on Thursday

~ from Contre Attaque ~

On the evening of Saturday, 20 September, an armed commando attacked a bar on Place Guérin, a square known for its militant activity. About twenty hooded men arrived at a run onto the terrace of a bar on the square. They were organised and methodical: they sprayed the inside of the bar with tear gas before beating up the people on the terrace. The commando used at least one baseball bat and an extendable truncheon. Tables and chairs were thrown, glasses and bottles exploded; everything happened very quickly.

The group left as disciplined as they had arrived, a few minutes later, running. They left behind a bar strewn with broken glass and a floor stained with blood. The attackers claimed responsibility for their actions, shouting “Brest est natio” (Brest is a nation): they were neo-Nazis organised to sow terror.

The Breton town, which has so far been relatively spared by the brown wind that is setting in, is unfortunately starting to get used to this climate. On 30 August, activists from La France Insoumise were participating in a school supply collection for Secours Populaire, just before the start of the school year. Hooded individuals arrived and attacked the group of four volunteers: “Two of them, knocked to the ground, were repeatedly hit, particularly in the face. For one of them, this was in response to death threats,” the press reported. “While we were tidying up, they attacked us. They pushed two people. And then, they targeted me”, explained Eddy, one of the victims, who received “five blows to the head”, others “in the legs”, and who had “difficulty moving and walking”.

During the attack, the assailants shouted “Brest is a nation” several times. The same rallying cry of the local neo-Nazi movement. The scene took place in broad afternoon and in a public space. When the left tries to collect social assistance, the far right, as a good watchdog of the bosses and the ruling class, attacks the solidarity initiative.

Twelve attacks have been recorded in the last five months in Brest by Street Press: “An escalation of violence, attributed to the same group, running amok”, according to the media. This commando particularly attacks targets identified as “antifa” or non-white. Street Press reports several cases, including one that occurred on August 8: a young man was walking when he saw “a group of about ten people in a park.” He explained: “A guy called out to me, I went on my way,” before being called a “little faggot.” The young man was wearing a red Harrington jacket and had piercings, enough signs to be considered an activist. “You’re not like us, you’re left-wing, it shows,” one of the attackers remarked to him, before the group “smashed his face to the ground, emptied his pockets, and smashed his phone.” The victim woke up with his face covered in blood and without a wallet. Other victims were interviewed by Street Press, and the list is probably not exhaustive, as some cases do not come forward, and this group seems to have been increasing its night attacks for months.

Following the 20 September assault, a call to demonstrate against the far right and racism in Brest was issued for Thursday, 25 September, notably by the Human Rights League. A call that would have met with widespread consensus just a few years ago. But in a France in the throes of fascism, the simple anti-fascist slogan is running into adversity. First, the prefecture threatened the mobilisation and issued an order banning gatherings in a large area of ​​the city, particularly the port district, where fascists gather.

Then by a section of the “left,” which now even disavows the fight against the far right. The Brest Socialist Party, which has held the city for decades, refused to call for a demonstration. The socialists justified this refusal by the presence of Insoumis MP Raphael Arnault, who is actually fighting against the far right. “Every time I travel, I’m used to all the local neo-fascist agitation, but the PS, I admit it’s a first,” wrote the MP. But this is no longer even surprising; PS officials now regularly declare that they are more afraid of Le France Insoumise than of the far right, and are perfectly happy with a future RN government, after having supported that of Bayrou and Retailleau.

Despite the sticky atmosphere, the demonstration was packed. More than 2,000 people marched through the city Thursday evening to demonstrate their resolute opposition to the far right. Along the route, police officers protected the “Cocorico”, a French bar that has served as a base for several violent attacks. Afterwards, riot police tear-gassed the procession as it attempted to continue marching. The far right in uniform, serving the far right, which attacks bars, unsurprisingly. A few barricades were set ablaze at the end of the demonstration.

For the billionaire media, there are good and bad attacks, good and bad victims. Television networks love to capitalise on the slightest news story to sow fear and fuel security discourse, but some violence slips under the media radar: racist acts or attacks against left-wing activists. For example, you probably haven’t heard about what’s happening in Brest for weeks, even though the situation is very serious.

“Red” Brest, a bastion of workers’ struggles, strong in its social history, its resistance and its activist networks, has not laid down its arms, far from it.

Edited machine translation