Robert Ménard, the mayor of Béziers, during a public meeting in Sète. – Alain ROBERT / SIPA
- On the sidelines of a conference in which Robert Ménard was to speak, scuffles took place in Toulouse between anti-fascist and far-right activists.
- The owners of the private room indicate that they have been misled about the nature of the meeting and reserve the right to file a complaint.
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Wednesday evening, a conference organized by the Circle of Capitouls, entitled “Courage, to do politics differently”, was to be held in the Osète room,
Toulouse, in the presence of the mayor of Béziers,
Robert Menard, and the essayist François Bousquet.
A meeting of which the Toulouse anti-fascist networks had heard. They called to assemble in front of the meeting place, which, at the last moment, moved to rue Paul-Mériel, near the Saint-Georges shopping center, in a private room.
Robert Ménard, initially announced, was not there, being in Carcassonne to support the candidate of the National Rally, Edgar Montagné.
There, scuffles broke out, the anti-fascists threw chairs and other projectiles against the windows of the Loft, the place where the meeting was held, in front of merchants and passersby dismayed. according to France 3 Occitanie, the far-right law enforcement agency blocked the entrance for several minutes, using gas to disperse the militants who came to fight it out.
? Violent confrontation at #Toulouse.
Anti-fascist activists tried to prevent a conference from Robert Ménard and François Bousquet. pic.twitter.com/rNOhkcBpON
– Martin Lom (@martinlombach) February 12, 2020
Incidents this evening in Toulouse between fifty anti-fascists and far-right activists on the sidelines of a conference by the mayor of Béziers Robert Ménard credit / S.Duchampt – @ France3MidiPy pic.twitter.com/03KjJuNsul
– Sylvain Duchampt (@duchampt) February 12, 2020
Alerted, the police arrived on the scene some time after the start of the brawl, the far-left activists fled them.
Skirmishes condemned this Thursday by the great absent of the evening, Robert Ménard.
Alain Finkielkraut, Sylviane Agacinski and now François Bousquet and myself … The antifas and their followers have decided to silence all those who do not think like them. Intolerable. #Toulouse https://t.co/vUusSxtSBU
– Robert Ménard (@RobertMenardFR) February 13, 2020
The managers of the room denounce “a hoax”
But also by the managers of the Loft, the private room where the meeting took place. They had very little taste to learn that the meeting was not “a business meeting for 40 people” as announced during the interlocutor but “of a meeting of the friends of Robert Ménard and the FN”.
“At 7:30 p.m., we were informed of the hoax. We attended, helplessly at this racist, homophobic unpacking. The police were outside the loft because there were projectiles from demonstrators. We strongly denounce the holding and the content of this political meeting. We strongly condemn the holding of this meeting and we reserve the right to file a complaint, “said the managers on their Facebook page.
They also decided to donate the sum of 600 euros, the rental price, to the Be Art Toulouse association and the Refuge, which helps victims of homophobia.
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