Difficult not to cross a CRS truck in the city center of Lille, this Saturday, February 5. On the sidelines of meeting of far-right candidate Eric Zemmour at the Grand Palais, which brought together 6,200 peopleseveral demonstrations took place in Lille, bringing together in total more than 2,000 people in the streets.
Morning, a first gathering was held at 11 a.m. Place de la République. Near 500 people attended according to our journalist on the spot and the prefecture of the North.
Several political and associative personalities spoke in turn, in front of the fountain in the square. The president of SOS Racisme Dominique Sopo protested against the arrival of Eric Zemmour in the North, a land “worker, and solidarity“. Mayor of Lille Martine Aubry insisted that if the far-right candidate had the right to hold a meeting, he “was, and will never be welcome in Lille“.
Six arrests during the afternoon demonstration
In the afternoon, a second gathering took place at Porte de Paris, before a parade through the streets of the city. 1,100 left-wing activistsaccording to figures from the North prefecture, marched to block Eric Zemmour, “including some 200 from the ultra left“, the police told AFP.
The tension rises very quickly with tear gas canisters from the start of the demonstration. Several clashes between police and demonstrators took place along the route. The police proceeded to six arrests.