Parisians were left open-mouthed after nearly a thousand neo-nazis marched through the city.
The activists from the May 9 Committee, clad in black and carrying flags and torches, held the rally in the French capital despite an initial ban from police on May 11.
Prior to the march, the Paris administrative court blocked the ban on the grounds that it was “a serious and manifestly illegal attack on the freedom to demonstrate”.
Some of the marchers, the vast majority of whom were men, were wearing t-shirts with “the white race” written on them. Many of the protesters were concealing their identities using masks.
The May 9 Committee marches around May 9 every year, to mark the anniversary of the death of Sébastien Deyzieu, 22, who was part of French ultranationalist group, L’Œuvre française – translated as French Work. The young fascist was trying to escape the police when he fatally fell in 1994.
In a message posted on X promoting the march, an account called LolitaZemorita, which carries the message “support Russia” in its bio, wrote: “For Sébastien and all the murdered nationalists!”
Another group, Groupe Union Défense – a student far-right organisation – also called their members to action, writing on X: “We call on the youth of France to mobilise en masse to commemorate with dignity the memory of Sébastien Deyzieu, as well as that of French and European nationalists who fell in combat.”
In several videos taken from the scene, the protesters could be heard chanting: “Europe! Jeunesse! Révolution”. Translated this means: “Europe! Youth! Revolution!”
The demonstrations in France come off the back of a similar fascist display in Milan at the end of last month.
On April 29, around 1500 fascists, also dressed in black, marched through the city to mark the death of Sergio Ramelli, a 19-year-old student fascist killed by leftist radicals in 1975.
Ramelli, a member of the student wing of the Italian Social Movement, a party formed by supporters of Benito Mussolini, was beaten to death by two members of the hard-left paramilitary organisation Avanguardia Operaia.
In video footage circulated online, two far-right demonstrators stood in front of a mural dedicated to Ramelli. Later in the clip, which has been viewed more than 3.2 million times, fascists shouted and raised their hands in a salute synonymous with Nazism outside Ramelli’s former home.
The demonstration has drawn condemnation from many in Italy, but perhaps most strikingly the governing party led by Giorgia Meloni endorsed the rally.
The Brothers of Italy took to X to say: “In memory of Sergio Ramelli, a young militant of the Youth Front, killed at just 19 years old by the far left with a wrench. His fault was that of having criticised the Red Brigades in a school essay. We will never stop honouring his memory.”