by Dr. Tsilla Hershco
These organized groups espouse an anarchist ideology and use carefully developed tactics. They piggyback on the Yellow Vest demonstrations to commit severe acts of violence.
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Black Blocs demonstrators in Paris, screenshot from Vimeo video
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BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,180, May 22, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: France
has been contending for years with violent anarchist gangs known as the
Black Blocs, who have been piggybacking on the mass demonstrations of
the Yellow Vests to commit acts of vandalism and wreak considerable
economic damage. The Black Blocs’ destructive riots on the Champs-Élysées prompted the French government to take tougher preventive measures against
the gangs, sparking criticism from both right and left. The government
will have to keep fighting the Black Blocs and the radicals among the
Yellow Vests, who are trying to achieve their economic and political
goals through violence.
France is contending with serious challenges that call for a national stocktaking.
The traumatic incident of the fire at the Notre
Dame Cathedral in Paris on April 16, 2019, induced shock and pain as
well as feelings of unity and national pride. It prompted an outpouring
of funds to renovate the cathedral, as well as admiration for the
firefighters who risked their lives to salvage it. Expressions of
sympathy from abroad bolstered France’s pride in its historical,
artistic, and architectural heritage.
The incident, potent in itself, came on the heels
of the mass demonstrations of the Yellow Vests, held every Saturday
since November 17, 2018. These demonstrations have placed complex
economic, social, and political problems, which have been building up
for many years, at the center of the public stage.
One serious problem that has not been adequately addressed is the phenomenon of the Black Blocs, also known as the casseurs (breakers).
These organized groups espouse an anarchist ideology and use carefully
developed tactics. They piggyback on the Yellow Vest demonstrations to
commit severe acts of violence.
The Black Blocs originated in Germany in the 1980s
and spread to other countries in Europe. They oppose the political
establishment, the police, and the capitalist and global economy,
operate in relatively small groups, and are connected through their own
social networks. They join the Yellow Vest demonstrations in various
French cities, and at a certain stage, particularly when events are
about to wind down, they attack the police with petrol bombs, large
stones, and bottle fragments that they have prepared along the route of
the demonstration.
Members of the casseurs can be identified
by their black clothing and their masks, which protect them against the
smoke grenades of the police. They create provocations that compel the
police to react forcefully so as to protect themselves and the more
peaceful demonstrators. The casseurs turn into side streets that are not on the pre-approved route and wreak destruction on public and private property.
When the violent activity comes to an end, they
usually manage to escape and change their clothes. They do not take any
identity papers with them. If arrested, they are forbidden from
disclosing their real personal details or those of their comrades to the
police, or, if they have been brought to a hospital for treatment, to
doctors.
Many Black Blocs members have come to
demonstrations, not only from France but from other European countries
as well. Most are affiliated with the radical left, but they also
include radical-right groups. Through their violence, the Black Blocs
endanger those demonstrators who want to protest and convey social and
political messages but who have no desire to clash with the police. The casseurs
in fact use such demonstrators as human shields. Sometimes,
demonstrators are hurt by smoke grenades and other devices because
unlike the Black Blocs, they are not skilled at escaping the police.
To boost their campaign to delegitimize the police
and governmental forces via the media, the Black Blocs are given
precise instructions on how to document their injuries or those of
nearby demonstrators. They exploit their proximity to the demonstrators
to try to convince them to join their ranks, and the police have indeed
reported cases of Yellow Vests who have been radicalized. They provide
cover for the Black Blocs during demonstrations, adopt their methods,
and sometimes even become part of the gangs. In a sign of the Black
Blocs’ influence, many Yellow Vests have ramped up their demands on the
government and declared to the media that they will not settle for
increasing the people’s purchasing power or reforming the electoral
system; instead, they demand the resignation of Macron, the dispersal of
the National Assembly, and a fundamental revolution in France’s system
of democratic government.
The Black Blocs’ violent involvement in
demonstrations did not begin during Macron’s presidency. When François
Hollande was president, they engaged in severe violence during
environmentalist demonstrations against a new airport in the
Notre-Dame-des-Landes commune near the city of Nantes. Black Blocs
gangs, who made up most of the demonstrations, ensconced themselves in
places designated for the building of the airport and clashed violently
with police.
The state did not exercise its authority against
the rioters. Instead, it proved that violence pays by giving in and
agreeing to hold a referendum for the residents of the area. President
Macron, who inherited the problem, canceled the project in January 2018
though a majority of referendum voters had favored it. It was then
decided, as an alternative solution, to widen the existing airport of
Nantes and to evacuate those residing illegally in Notre-Dame-des-Landes
– an evacuation that was met by violent opposition from the Black Blocs
in May 2018.
The Black Blocs riots of May 18, 2016 were
especially intense. On that day, hundreds of thousands of people all
over France protested a new labor law. Masked rioters shattered display
windows and threw smoke bombs into stores. They set a police car on fire
and attacked the policemen who were inside it. About four months later,
one of the policemen who fled the rioters was decorated for heroism and
given a promotion. During the ceremony and on social networks he was
praised for his (supposed) level-headedness and for not having used his
gun despite having been savagely attacked. In an interview, he said he
forgave his attackers – and added that if he had in fact struck back at
them, his career would be over and he would not have become a decorated
hero.
This Orwellian message of governmental weakness
was conveyed to the entire French public. It offered encouragement to
the rioters to continue to flout law and order, commit acts of violence,
and attack policemen in order to achieve their political and economic
goals.
On May 1, 2018, about 1,200 Black Blocs rioters
joined a traditional demonstration by professional unions against
Macron’s labor reforms. The rioters threw petrol bombs, damaged shops,
and clashed with police. The media later focused on an incident in which
Macron’s security guard Alexandre Benalla, who is not a policeman,
reacted violently to one of the rioters. The media and opposition
politicians exploited the incident to censure Macron, claiming an
attempt had been made to cover it up. As in the past, the Black Blocs
problem was pushed under the rug of the public discourse – only to
return in all its severity as they took part violently in Yellow Vest
demonstrations.
The violence of the Black Blocs mounted. During
the Yellow Vest demonstrations on December 1, 2018, they perpetrated a
massive attack of mayhem and plunder in Paris against government,
tourist, and economic institutions such as the Arc de Triomphe, the
Paris Bourse, and the Tuileries Gardens. They broke into banks, burned
cars (including a police car), blocked main thoroughfares, and more. The
media referred to the violent demonstrations as “urban guerrilla
warfare”; Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, who is in charge of the
police, demanded that a state of emergency be declared (as was done at
the time of the 2015 terror attacks). President Macron, who is
authorized to make such a decision, was on a presidential visit to South
America at the time.
The “urban guerrilla” attacks reached a new peak
in the Yellow Vest demonstrations of March 16, 2019. While a large part
of the police force was escorting the mass demonstrations, which were
demanding action on climate change and included an estimated 45,000
people, the Black Blocs took advantage of the relatively meager police
presence in other areas to riot on the Champs–Élysées
and in nearby streets. The spectacles shown on live television shocked
the French public. Members of Black Blocs gangs were seen attacking
police, looting and burning stores, restaurants, banks, and cars, and
setting fire to a residential building. The beautiful Champs–Élysées
became a battlefield. Joined by rioters from the suburbs, the Black
Blocs damaged about 600 shops on the avenue itself and nearby. The
damage to the elegant, tourist-attracting avenue prompted shock and
harsh criticism by the public and the media of the complacency that had
caused the failure of the French police and security forces. The
criticism was directed specifically at Interior Minister Castaner and
also at President Macron, who went on a skiing vacation that weekend
despite warnings that the demonstrations would be particularly fierce.
In the wake of these violent incidents, PM Édouard
Philippe and the interior minister formulated, at Macron’s behest, a
new strategy and a set of preventive measures against the rioters. A ban
was instituted on demonstrations along the Champs-Élysées and at other
major sites in French cities. A special police force was created for
purposes of deterrence and rapid intervention against violent outbreaks
(DAR, or Détachement d’Action Rapide et de Dissuasion). Police were
authorized to make operative decisions in the field without need for
approval from central headquarters, something that had delayed the
response in previous rounds of violence. Other measures included higher
fines for taking part in illegal demonstrations in locations that the
police had not approved, preventive detention for people who wore masks
during demonstrations, inspection of handbags and cars, and arrests of
people carrying weapons. It was also decided to develop and begin using
new technical means such as drones, to spray paint on violent
demonstrators, to install video cameras, and to identify masked
lawbreakers in the aftermath of demonstrations by such indicators as
eyes or manner of walking. In addition, the Paris police commander was
dismissed – which presumably pleased the rioters, who could then take
credit for it. These measures were spelled out in an “anti-casseur” law after approval by the parliament, the Senate, and the National Assembly.
At the same time, in a much-publicized press
conference on April 25, Macron said he was ready to consider the Yellow
Vests’ demands regarding an array of economic and political measures,
such as lowering taxes, increasing welfare payments, making the
electoral system more representative, and promising not to cut budgets
for schools and hospitals during his presidency. These measures were
added to economic palliatives in December 2018 that had raised the
public’s purchasing power. Macron also announced the closing of the
École Nationale d’Administration (ENA), whose graduates constitute a
governmental and economic elite, occupy key positions in the state, and
enjoy privileged economic status and conditions. The Yellow Vests say
these people are unaware of the reality in the periphery.
The Yellow Vests reacted to Macron’s measures with
distrust. They said they would not settle for ways of increasing
purchasing power or for greater representation. They intend to continue
their demonstrations while demanding a participatory democracy with
popular “tribunals” and an equitable distribution of wealth.
It appears that the radicals among them, with
their refusal to engage in dialogue with the government, are now setting
the tone. Yellow Vest representatives refuse to condemn the violent
methods of the Black Blocs, going so far as to claim that they were what
motivated Macron to make concessions. They say they will achieve their
other demands, which include Macron’s resignation, the dispersal of the
National Assembly, and the holding of a popular referendum.
The Yellow Vests also took a radical line on the
issue of the burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral. They criticized the
fact that wealthy people contributed hundreds of millions of euros for
the church’s renovation, claiming these funds should have gone to
assistance for the poor. In doing so, they showed a lack of
identification with most of the French public, who consider the
cathedral a symbol of France’s historical and cultural heritage and
support its rehabilitation. The Yellow Vests likewise reacted negatively
to the public call to cancel mass demonstrations on the Saturday after
the Notre Dame fire, which fell during the Easter vacation.
On that pivotal Easter Saturday, the police
prepared beefed-up forces for the demonstrations. There was intelligence
about thousands of Black Blocs rioters who had been summoned to Paris
from all over Europe. The police conducted checks at train stations and
on highways, made preemptive arrests, and deployed patrol cars. The
demonstrations did include violence, but not to the extent that was
feared.
The French public and politicians were
nevertheless deeply shocked when some demonstrators called on policemen
to commit suicide. Since the Yellow Vest demonstrations began, more than
20 policemen have indeed killed themselves, apparently no longer able
to bear the tension and frustration stemming from their ongoing, intense
weekend activity, the demonstrators’ acrimony, and the strict
limitations that stop them from enforcing the law against the rioters
for fear of facing criminal charges.
On April 27, 2019, the police employed the new
strategy and were largely able to contain the Yellow Vest
demonstrations. Black Blocs from Germany and Belgium took part in the
principal demonstration in Strasbourg, and the police kept them away
from the city’s EU institutions. This was a significant success in light
of what had happened there ten years earlier, in 2009, when the Black
Blocs rioted and destroyed stores and institutions in a Strasbourg
neighborhood as a NATO summit was being held in the city.
A few days later, on May 1, beefed-up police
forces deployed for Labor Day demonstrations; in previous years, these
had involved riots and clashes with the Black Blocs. There was great
apprehension over intelligence reports that large groups of Black Blocs
from other countries were preparing to come to the Paris protests. The
police made preventive arrests, used surveillance techniques, and were
able to hold back the Black Blocs, though there were several violent
incidents. For example, demonstrators broke into the La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in the 13th
arrondissement and tried to get into the intensive care unit, but were
ejected by police. The demonstrators also tried to enter the surgical
department, but workers there barricaded the door.
Interior Minister Castaner called the event an
“attack” on the hospital, sparking harsh criticism from the opposition.
Castaner apologized and instead called it a “violent entry” into the
hospital. But the extreme left aligned with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who made
use of the incident to demand Castaner’s resignation. The extreme right
of La Pen exploited it to decry the conduct of the Interior Ministry.
The police, rather than getting credit for
containing the violence, were targeted once again. Philippe Martinez,
leader of CGT, the largest labor organization, accused the police of
using force at the demonstration; he himself had been exposed to tear
gas that had been directed at Black Blocs rioters. He even demanded that
the policemen involved be put on trial. Some 240 complaints against the
police were submitted. The media morally equated the “violence” of the
police – who were attacked by the Black Blocs while fulfilling their
task of maintaining public order – and the violence of the lawbreakers
who instigated the attacks.
Amid all the intensive public discourse, the
question never arose of who is funding the Black Blocs and the radicals
among the Yellow Vests. Whoever is doing so may be trying to influence
the European Parliament elections on May 26, 2019.
In principle, the use of force against the Black
Blocs should be within the public consensus, like the war on terror. The
ongoing violence in the streets of France, ancillary to the Yellow Vest
demonstrations, is of no benefit to the French. Indeed the right to
demonstrate is considered a democratic right. But intensive, protracted,
and manipulative use of this right does harm to the French economy, to
the state’s ability to aid citizens from disadvantaged sectors, and to
the right of citizens to earn a living and conduct their lives in peace
and security.
More than six consecutive months of disturbances
in France, accompanied by the violence of the Black Blocs and the
radicalization of the Yellow Vests, infringe upon the authority of the
state and law-enforcement institutions. Cumulatively, these events
foster a kind of banality in the use of force and provide grist for the
idea that political goals can be achieved through force. The
intensiveness of the demonstrations may also be aimed at swaying the
European Parliament elections and damaging the status and legitimacy of
the president of France. It is also possible that political actors
outside or inside France are trying to make political hay from the
violent demonstrations. All this could endanger the foundations of
French democracy and perhaps also spell trouble for other democratic
regimes.
Source: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/france-black-blocs/
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