“Thanks for coming! Without you it would have been complicated. You did the job! Now go back to the meeting.” Sunday 5 December, 5.15 p.m. at the entrance to the Villepinte exhibition center: a volunteer from Eric Zemmour’s security service addresses about fifty young men, very agitated and for some hooded. Several members of the ultra-violent neo-Nazi group Les Zouaves Paris, (identified by our colleagues from Politis), have just participated in the beating of a dozen SOS Racism activists in the midst of the far-right candidate’s speech. A scene of incredible and unprecedented violence in a public meeting in France.
A few minutes earlier, journalists had also been threatened and insulted by several well-known identities by the police for their participation in brawls and attacks during gatherings of ultra-left activists, in particular.
Would the former columnist appeal to these violent and openly xenophobic small groups to clean up the political opponents in his campaign meetings? Could there be a parallel security service made up of ultra-right activists determined to take justice into their own hands?
Albéric Dumont, the security man of Eric Zemmour, completely demented. “This volunteer, who was not at all a security officer, thought he was doing the right thing by speaking directly to these very virulent individuals. He said that in the heat of the moment, it was to calm things down” , tells the former number two of La Manif pour tous, ensuring that there is “no link between these individuals whose violence we condemn and the candidate’s security service”.
Recruited by the polemicist since September 1, Albéric Dumont explains that the security of the candidate’s events is ensured according to two levels of dangerousness.
With regard to his close protection, six security officers from the Ministry of the Interior follow his actions during each of his public trips. These are also the same police officers attached to the National Police Protection Service (SDLP) who surrounded Eric Zemmour when the latter was attacked by an LR activist before going on the stage of Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis).
For everything else, it is Ultreïa, the company of Albéric Dumont, which is responsible for the smooth running of Eric Zemmour’s meetings and trips. According to information from franceinfo, a total of 204 people were mobilized by the team of Albéric Dumont to secure the Villepinte meeting, including 80 professional security agents employed directly by his company.
“The members of the close protection pole who work with me are all former soldiers and therefore real security professionals”, explains Albéric Dumont. “During the meeting, like Beauvau [le ministère de l’Intérieur] wanted to directly ensure the close safety of Eric Zemmour, my team leader, who is a former parachutist, then fell back on the safety of Sarah Knafo “, the candidate’s companion and close advisor.
“Thanks to the painstaking work of all my teams, we really avoided the tragedy.”
Albéric Dumont, Eric Zemmour’s security managerto franceinfo
An official and professional security service that would therefore have nothing to do with these ultra-right groups? This is also what Antoine Diers, one of Eric Zemmour’s spokespersons, assures us: “We ask our supporters not to intervene themselves in the face of provocative antifas. We have a very competent security service which has prevented it from becoming even more serious during this meeting.”
According to Eric Zemmour’s security teams, Molotov cocktails were indeed intercepted outside the building, and weapons such as knives or iron bars found taped under several seats in the room. An anonymous phone call to 17 would have also reported a false bomb threat just before the opening of the doors of the Villepinte exhibition center, according to the candidate’s relatives.
“It is true that the images of violence that we were able to see in this rally are more than reprehensible, but we all the same exfiltrated 44 people in total, including people who defended terrorism in the middle of a rally, ultra-left activists and indeed these very violent young identities who have nothing to do with our candidate “, welcomes Albéric Dumont.
However, on the evening of the meeting, several activists from these far-right youth groups told Franceinfo that Eric Zemmour’s official security service had at no time condemned their actions. “I intervened in the fight because I wanted to protect my comrades and Eric Zemmour”, assured a young man, short hair and hood. Another participant in the beating of anti-racist activists proudly assured that evening that he “would do the exact same thing again” if the candidate’s safety were to be threatened again.
The next meetings of the former far-right columnist should not take place before 2022. But for the candidate’s trips to Armenia from December 11 to 13, to Strasbourg on the 16th or even in the Lyon region on the 21st, security should be greatly strengthened. According to information from franceinfo, the Interior Ministry has accepted that additional agents be deployed, depending on the movements and activities of the candidate.
“We will conduct a global reflection to limit the access points during the next meetings, view all the images of this violence and ask the government to reassess the threat weighing against Eric Zemmour”, warns Alberic Dumont. When questioned, the Interior Ministry emphasizes having reminded Eric Zemmour’s team that it was necessary “first and foremost to strengthen its security service which was clearly not up to standard”.