Loire. A thousand people in Saint-Etienne to say no to the RN

It was around 7:20 pm on Monday evening when the speeches began on the Place de l’Hôtel-de-ville in Saint-Etienne. Initially, nearly 600 people responded to the call from the Saint-Etienne antifa committee to say no to the far right in the wake of the legislative elections that saw the National Rally make a breakthrough in the Loire department.

Up to 1000 protesters

The organizers vigorously denounced “the ideas of a party created by the Nazis” and called for “mobilization against fascism” in the face of the risks they believe they will face if power falls into the hands of the RN. Antifa and the Young Communists called for a fight against the far-right party’s rise to power, calling it a racist, sexist and homophobic party.

A procession then set off to People’s Square before reaching Jacquard Square, passing by the courthouse, swelling to include nearly a thousand demonstrators. Shouting their anger with slogans like “Siamo tutti antifascisti” (we are all antifascists) and defending the Palestinian cause at the end of the parade.