Saint-Denis, the largest suburb of Paris, hosted a large rally against racism on Saturday in support of the town’s newly elected Black mayor.
Bally Bagayoko was elected in the first round of municipal elections on March 15. The 52-year-old stood for the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party.
Organizers said about 20,000 people gathered in front of the Saint-Denis town hall.
Bagayoko was targeted almost immediately with racist attacks and fake news stories, including on French national TV.
“We come to state firmly and definitively our visceral attachment to the values of the republic embodied by those who are heirs of immigration,” Bagayoko said to the crowd, condemning what he called “failing, sometimes even complicit institutions.”
Born in France to parents from Mali, a former French colony, Bagayoko grew up in Saint-Denis, one of the country’s most diverse towns with a large immigrant community.
The protest included trade unions, civil associations and music groups.
LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon attended and denounced “a sickening wave of racism coming from the political and media elites who, without reservation, without restraint, have displayed their contempt for a part of our people.”
Prosecutors said they were opening an investigation into possible public insults of a racist nature.
Some of the most prominent racist remarks were made by a guest on CNews, a channel owned by ultraconservative Vincent Bollore and often compared to Fox News. Bagayoko has filed a complaint against the network.
Another investigation has been opened into racist comments on the social media platform X.
French Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu also spoke out against the “normalisation of evil and racism” following the far-right campaign against the elected mayor.
Edited by: Sean Sinico