Jean-Marie Le Pen, the controversial figure who led France’s far-right National Rally (formerly known as the National Front) party from 1972 to 2011, died on Tuesday at the age of 96 in a health facility near Paris. Infamous for his incendiary rhetoric and convictions for Holocaust denial, Le Pen was a polarizing and divisive political figure.
News of his death sparked widespread, celebratory gatherings across France on Tuesday evening. Demonstrators took to the streets in major cities, with chants, fireworks, and smoke bombs marking the occasion.
In Paris, hundreds of people assembled at Place de la République. Among the crowd, which included members of the far-left New Anti-Capitalist Party, a placard reading, “That filthy racist is dead,” was prominently displayed. Protesters climbed the square’s central statue, chanting anti-fascist slogans and declaring that “young people don’t care about the National Front,” referring to the party Le Pen founded and led for decades.
In Lyon, between 200 and 300 people gathered in response to calls from extreme-left groups, according to reports by AFP. Meanwhile, in Marseille, a similar demonstration saw celebrants displaying signs that read, “Finally,” and popping champagne bottles to mark the moment.
“For us, this is the death of someone we despised,” one demonstrator told AFP in Marseille. “He was racist, misogynistic, a Holocaust denier, and antisemitic. When someone like that is gone, it’s worth celebrating.”
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