Far-Right group chants ‘Paris is Nazi’ after storming migrant aid office
A group of 20 far-Right extremists stormed the office of a migrant aid group where they attacked an anti-fascism activist before running off and shouting “Paris is Nazi” in city streets.
The incident took place outside the offices of the Cultural Association of Immigrant Workers of Turkey on Sunday at around 5pm.
It was captured in several videos, drawing widespread condemnation.
In one video, about 10 assailants in black hoodies swarmed a lone man and kicked him repeatedly while he lay helpless on the ground.
In the second video, which was taken after the assault, the group ran down the streets of Paris and can be heard laughing and shouting “Paris is Nazi” and “Lyon is Nazi too”.
In interviews with French media, the 30-year-old victim, who was identified by the pseudonym Paul, said the attack happened quickly.
“I saw people in hoods with very distinctive hooligan and Right-wing extremist markings. I tried to close the door, but I couldn’t,” he told Le Parisien.
“Afterwards, I took a blow to the head and ended up on the ground. I didn’t see much.”
Along with bruises on his face and body, he left hospital with three stitches on his back. Police say bottle shards were used in the attack.
‘Gratuitous violence’
He was at the office with the youth socialist group Young Struggle France, where the group was hosting the screening of a 1969 political thriller, Z, by Costa-Gavras, about the assassination of a progressive Greek politician.
Paul denounced the attack as gratuitous violence, telling Le Parisien: “We were just young internationalists getting together to see a film. They attacked us because they saw we were organising this event on social networks.
“They must have seen a publication about an anti-fascist film and didn’t like it. We’re not involved in street fights with the extreme right. That’s not our approach at all.
The assailants put a sticker from the Kop of Boulogne, a group of Paris Saint-Germain supporters with far-Right ties, and another of a Celtic cross outside the office before leaving the scene.
News of the attack mobilised around 700 protesters who gathered outside the Gare de l’Est metro station on Monday night.
“Anti-fascist rally underway at Gare de l’Est after stabbing at a movie club,” wrote Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-Left France Unbowed party on X.
He continued: “The immediate response is a success. This should be an encouragement to popular involvement against fascist attacks.”
Pouria Amirshahi, an ecologist and socialist deputy, called the incident a violent provocation by the far-Right and the latest attack on the immigrant community in France.
“The increase in these attacks in Paris and elsewhere must be a warning to everyone and must mobilise us to continue the fight against the extreme Right and its most violent forms of expression.”
Police arrested six people in connection with the attack and have opened an investigation into attempted murder.
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