An idea from Canada. Opponents of health restrictions want to organize a “freedom convoy” on the roads of France inspired by the mobilization recently observed in North America. The Canadian capital, Ottawa, has indeed been saturated for several days with trucks blocking streets and blaring their horns. In France, the protesters meet in Paris on Saturday February 12. Here is what we know about this emerging but already very active movement on social networks.
A social media movement
The mobilization, inspired by the Canadian movement “Freedom Convoy 2022” (“Freedom Convoy 2022”), recalls the beginnings of the movement of “yellow vests” in France at the end of 2018. It also has its roots in the networks social. Citizens from all walks of life are called to “roll over Paris”, Saturday, February 12, in particular to protest against the vaccination pass.
Unlike the current movement in Ottawa (Canada) or even Wellington (New Zealand), where hundreds of trucks are currently surrounding official buildings, the French version is targeting the capital, but without a specific location for the moment.
Many Facebook pages or groups dedicated to the organization of this convoy have appeared since the end of January. The largest, entitled “The Convoy of Freedom”, brought together more than 270,000 members, Tuesday noon. Other “dissident” pages, sometimes regionalized, also exist. Each trip organized from Brest, Perpignan, Lille or Strasbourg and converging on Paris now has its own Facebook page. Discussion groups have also been set up on the secure messaging application Telegram. The one entitled “Convoy France Officiel” exceeded 24,000 subscribers, Tuesday noon.
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Just like the “yellow vests”, to broadcast their call for the rally, the participants also multiply the live speeches on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch… On February 4, two spokespersons for the “Convoy France” movement were invited on “Putsch Media”, a YouTube channel whose host is also a columnist on RT France. One of them exposed claims pell-mell: “Recover fundamental rights, respect for the referendum, unconditional access to healthcare, education, culture and respect for the essential values of our constitution.”
The “minority” drivers
Should we also expect endless lines of trucks like in Canada? A priori, no: unlike the mobilization across the Atlantic, heavyweights should play a less important role in France. This was recognized by Florian, a driver from the Rhône-Alpes, questioned on the media “yellow vest” Vécu. Considered one of the spokespersons of “Convoy France”, the latter recognizes that “the truckers will be in the minority on the convoy”, than “it’s not a movement of trucks”.
The main unions in the road transport sector also claim to be in no way associated with this movement. “We are included in a movement that therefore does not concern us. They use the imaginary power of a convoy to block I-don’t-know-who or I-don’t-know-what”explains to Release Christophe Denizot, Secretary General of the SUD-Solidaires Federation of road transport.
It is also that the health restrictions that apply to road transport are not the same in France as in North America. In France, drivers have the right to travel between countries and they are allowed to eat at truck stops without a vaccination pass. Canada, for its part, has imposed the vaccination obligation since mid-January on foreign drivers coming from the United States. And Canadian drivers must also be vaccinated to go to the United States.
Leaders from a variety of backgrounds
Figures of leaders already stand out. Rémi Monde has been publishing live videos that have been punctuating several Facebook pages for several weeks. Actively mobilized against the health pass since the summer of 2021, he shares visuals on his networks highlighting Didier Raoult, Louis Fouché or the controversial documentary Hold-Up.
In the past, on other profiles belonging to him, Rémi Monde was involved in causes close to Nuit Debout in 2016, “yellow vests”, and was mobilized on environmental defense issues. According to our information, Rémi Monde is the pseudonym of Rémi B., previously an entrepreneur in the south of France, specializing in the sale of products aimed at reforesting forests that have been victims of fires, or training to reduce pollution within businesses in their region.
Other figures emerged. Maria C. presents herself as spokesperson for the Convoy France movement. A nurse in the Hautes-Alpes, she had distinguished herself on the set of the local branch BFM DICI, by stating untruths about the Covid-19. She often speaks with Marisa, another spokesperson for the movement, close to the “Reinfo Covid” collective. Furthermore, thn observing the list of administrators of Facebook groups, the links with the “yellow vests” pages are obvious.
In rare cases, the Internet users behind certain Facebook pages are also close to the extreme right. For example, a second group “Convoi pour la liberté”, bringing together more than 2,200 Internet users, is administered by a person promoting Eric Zemmour on his personal account.
Convoys that are organized throughout France
From North to South, from West to East, the list of cities affected by this movement is growing hour by hour. The first convoys set off for Paris on Wednesday morning. It is better to plan time, indeed, because the principle is the same each time: “Take the secondary network and drive between 50 and 80 km/h.”
On social networks, Internet users exchange numerous route maps. All departure points, with date, time and exact address, are listed on the convoys.fr website, the origin of which we have not yet been able to define. It does not contain any legal notices, signatures or contacts. Arrival is scheduled for Friday evening at 8 p.m. “an evening of sharing and conviviality with citizen solidarity”.
Furthermore, “those who wish” can then join Belgium, on Sunday, for a “European convergence” scheduled for Brussels the following day, Monday.
The authorities attentive to the movement
In Ottawa, the situation was so “out of control” that Jim Watson, the mayor, ended up declaring a state of emergency in his city. In France, the mobilization that is preparing is closely watched. “Today, we have no information that shows us that this is organized in proportions that would be significant”, said the Minister of the Interior on Tuesday morning. Nevertheless, “means are important” to prevent such blockages, added Gérald Darmanin on BFMTV.
At franceinfo, the police assures Tuesday that “the police headquarters will receive information on the movements that will come back from the territorial intelligence services to get an estimate of the phenomenon”. And confirm that it is “a little early to know if this will be followed”. “This movement not being carried by any trade union organization, it is possible that it will be little followed”, continues the same source. If applicable, “a device for detecting blockages of access to Ile-de-France and the capital and a verbalization device will of course be put in place”.
Monday morning, a first convoy of around thirty demonstrators who were trying to reach the capital in their vehicles was intercepted between Essonne and Seine-et-Marne “in the calm”by the police, AFP learned.