They "shocked" the Prime Minister. Ultra-right groups demonstrated Saturday in Paris, often hooded or with their faces concealed and wearing Celtic crosses. Faced with images of this gathering of some 1,500 people, the government wants to ban these demonstrations.

The Minister of the Interior issued a circular, seen by AFP, entitled "prohibition of demonstrations and gatherings of the ultra-right". First application this weekend. The Secretary of State for Citizenship, Sonia Backès, announced Wednesday in the Senate that a demonstration in tribute to Joan of Arc organized Sunday in Paris by the Action française would be banned.

An overview of the main groups that make up the landscape of the ultra-right and which, despite the dissolutions, are rising rapidly from the ashes, in a fragmented way, throughout the country.

The Union Défense Group (GUD)

"Europe, youth, revolution": at the end of the rally on Saturday, behind their black flags marked with the Celtic cross, the activists chanted the slogan of the GUD. A proof of the influence of this student union, historical "brand" of the French far right born in 1968 at the Parisian University of Assas.

Never dissolved but dormant since 2017, the GUD had announced its return in November 2022. Very active since then, it is the link between ultra-right movements, like this "sports weekend" organized in early April at the park of Saint-Cloud (Hauts-de-Seine) which brought together dozens of activists.

Known for its violent actions, the GUD regularly returns to the spotlight. Loïk Le Priol, a former "gudard", is the main suspect in the March 2021 murder of former Argentine rugby international Federico Martin Aramburu.

Small groups that have since dissolved, such as Bastion Social (2017-2019) or Zouaves Paris (2018-2022), were created by GUD activists. Among them is Marc de Caqueray-Valmenier, presumed leader of the Zouaves, convicted and imprisoned in recent years.

Division Martel

These identity movements are regularly present in Parisian rallies. On the Telegram loop "Ouest Casual", popular with the movement, a photo showed about twenty people, dressed in black and blurred faces, claiming to have "raked" during a torchlight march in early January in tribute to Sainte-Geneviève, patron saint of the capital.

Throughout the messages, these groups list photos of their marauders, videos to prepare in case of police custody or show their support for ultra-right activists arrested in Paris on the evening of the France-Morocco match in December.

For example, the Martel Division was present at the end of April in Saint-Brévin (Loire-Atlantique), where a demonstration against a reception centre for asylum seekers provoked clashes with anti-fascist activists.

Argos, heir to Génération identitaire

Another case of rebirth, under a new name: Argos. She wants to be the heir of Génération identitaire, with the same agit-prop methods (agitation and propaganda) that the organization dissolved in March 2021.

On its Instagram page (5,000 followers) the first video of the organization dated last October advocates a radical change to defend "European civilization".

"There is something quite new: their first action in December was to block a shooting room in Paris, it's a new way to reorient the debate," says researcher Marion Jacquet-Vailland.

In Lyon, the Ramparts

The capital of Gaul is one of the strongholds of the ultra-right in France: between 300 and 400 people would be members of the movement, according to local authorities. Their bridgehead is called the Ramparts, a small group also built on the ashes of Génération identitaire.

At the end of October, the prosecutor's office opened an investigation for "incitement to hatred" after a demonstration of the ultra-right in tribute to the young Lola, killed in Paris, "marked by xenophobic slogans." According to the mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, this rally had been claimed by an activist identifying himself on social networks as part of "Remparts Lyon."

Videos on the Twitter account of the "Ramparts" showed hooded people shouting "murderous immigrants", with a banner reading "Justice for Lola, immigration kills". The mayor had written to Emmanuel Macron to ask for their "immediate dissolution."

Elsewhere, fragmented small groups

According to researcher Jean-Yves Camus, the dissolution of ultra-right groups has led to their fragmentation. "The Social Bastion was dissolved in 2019 and with it the 18 local associations that served as relays in the main cities of France. Despite this, we see that today, we have a flowering of groups in many large and medium-sized cities," he says.

There is thus the identity organization Auctorum in Versailles, the Angevine Youth in Angers and other groups located in Rennes, Nantes, Brest or Tours, which can meet for a targeted action, as in Saint-Brévin or Saturday in Paris. In Nice, the small group of "Zulus" was involved in attacks in 2020 and 2021, reports Conspiracy Watch.

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