After the violent demonstrations last weekend in response to the death of Thomas on November 19 in Drôme, Gérald Darmanin announced this Tuesday, November 28 that he wanted to dissolve three small far-right groups.
After a weekend marked by violent rallies by the far right in certain large cities in France, the Minister of the Interior spoke this Tuesday, November 28 at the microphone of France Inter. This morning, Gérald Darmanin said that he was going to “propose the end of various small groups”. He notably mentioned the Division Martel group, an informal far-right group active in Île-de-France and known for its violence, before specifying that it was impossible for him for the moment to name the other two but assured that They “are directly linked to far-right mobilizations.”
This announcement follows demonstrations last weekend, notably in Romans-sur-Isère in the Monnaie district where some suspects linked to the death of the 16-year-old in Crépol came from. The far-right demonstrators were stopped by the police who arrested certain activists. Six of them were placed in pre-trial detention.
Similar demonstrations took place in other cities in France. Particularly in Lyon on Monday November 27 in the evening despite the ban on gatherings by the prefecture. Eight people were arrested and taken into custody after this demonstration. The minister welcomed the fact that France “has thus avoided an Irish-style scenario, a scenario of a small civil war” in reference to the riots which broke out in Dublin after a knife attack.
The first group clearly targeted by the Minister of the Interior, the Martel Division, was the subject of an investigation carried out by the media StreetPress, which reveals that this group was born in 2022. Majorly present in Ile-de-France , it can also act in the city of Rouen. It would be made up of “around twenty minors or very young adults” according to StreetPress. Among them would be former members of Zouaves Paris or Bastion Social, similar movements that have already dissolved. The name of this gathering is inspired by Charles Martel, a French military leader who is said to have won the Battle of Poitiers in 732 against the Umayyads. The Martel Division would also be in contact with the GUD, an organization created in 1968 at the University of Assas in Paris and known for its violence, with which it participates in the same actions.
In an article published by Libération in 2022 about it, the Division highlights the neofascist and neo-Nazi ideologies that it claims. Present at the main demonstrations, members of the “DM” were the perpetrators of attacks on students leaving the Victor Hugo high school in Paris, making racist remarks at the end of July. The group was also present in Loire-Atlantique in Saint-Brévin last April during a demonstration against the opening of a reception center for asylum seekers. The leader of the group, allegedly a former soldier from Rouen nicknamed “big bacon”, was arrested in Paris in December 2022 when he planned to attack Moroccan supporters after the semi-final of the Football World Cup . Nazi flags and armbands were found at his home as well as books of the same ideology.
On France Inter this Tuesday morning, Gérald Darmanin clarified that he “would not let any militia, whether far-right or any radical movement, make the law in place of the public prosecutors and the police and gendarmes. The minister also indicated that Thomas’ death “should not allow anyone else to stand up in the name of the State to do justice.”
