Jean-Marie Le Pen, who led the National Rally (then called the National Front) party from 1972 to 2011, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 96 in a health facility in the Paris area. He was the longtime face of the far right in France and became notorious for his hate speech and Holocaust denial convictions.
Following news of his death, hundreds of people gathered in cities across France on Tuesday evening to celebrate with chanting, smoke bombs and fireworks.
In Paris, several hundred people gathered at the Place de la République. A placard reading, “That filthy racist is dead,” was seen among the crowd, which included supporters of the far-left New Anti-Capitalist Party.
Some demonstrators climbed the square’s central statue, chanting anti-fascist slogans and proclaiming that “young people don’t care about the National Front” — referring to the party Le Pen once led.
In Lyon, around 200 to 300 people gathered at the invitation of extreme-left groups, AFP reported.
In Marseille, a similar rally took place, where signs bearing the word “Finally” were displayed, and some attendees popped champagne bottles to celebrate the occasion.
“It’s the death of a person we hate, because he was a racist, he hated women, he denied the Holocaust and he was antisemitic. We have to celebrate when such hateful people leave,” one demonstrator told AFP.