Demonstrators against pension reform outside the Parisian theater of Bouffes du Nord, January 17, 2020 - Lucas BARIOULET / AFP

Journalist and activist Taha Bouhafs, who reported on Emmanuel Emmanuel Macron's presence on Friday in a Paris theater by relaying a call to disrupt the evening, was placed in police custody overnight, we learned from judicial source.

The 22-year-old journalist was taken into police custody for "participation in a group formed to commit violence or damage," said the source. He was arrested Friday evening after the performance, briefly disturbed by an attempt to intrude protesters into the theater, on the 44th day of strike against the pension reform.

Security but no exfiltration

President Macron, who was present with his wife, was "secured" for a few minutes and then returned to see the room until the end, according to his entourage.

Before the performance started, Taha Bouhafs wrote on Twitter: “I am currently at the Bouffes du Nord theater (Metro La Chapelle). 3 rows behind the President of the Republic. Activists are somewhere around the corner and are calling on everyone to come back. Something is brewing… the evening may be hectic. ”

I am currently at the Bouffes du Nord theater (Metro La Chapelle)
3 rows behind the president of the republic.

Activists are somewhere around the corner and are calling on everyone to come back.

Something is brewing ... the evening may be hectic. pic.twitter.com/0mfwQPwdzr

- Taha Bouhafs (@T_Bouhafs) January 17, 2020

Taha Bouhafs then asked his tens of thousands of subscribers whether or not to throw his shoes on the president, like the famous gesture of an Iraqi journalist against the American president Georges W. Bush in 2008.

I'm kidding for the Georges bush the safety watch me weird the

- Taha Bouhafs (@T_Bouhafs) January 17, 2020

The arrest of Taha Bouhafs, who films social movements for the information site Over There if I am there, has aroused some political reactions.

“We arrest a journalist for tweeting about the presence of the Contemptuous in the theater. Welcome to #Macronie ", responded France Insoumise MP Danièle Obono on Twitter.

"What happened at #BouffesduNord is unacceptable, unacceptable. When one seeks to attack the President of the Republic, one seeks to reach the institution. Let us not get used to these manifestations of violence against democracy, ”retorted LREM MP and spokesperson Célia de Lavergne.

The President of the Republic remained until the end of the representation at the Bouffes du Nord.
He was in no case "exfiltrated".
Activist Taha Bouhafs was arrested (and no one talks about a "journalist"!)

- Aurore Bergé (@auroreberge) January 17, 2020

Taha Bouhafs, known for filming Alexandre Benalla violating a couple in Paris on May 1, 2018, had already been placed in police custody in June while he was covering a demonstration in the Paris suburbs, attracting the support of part of the profession. He is to be tried on February 22 in Créteil for "contempt and rebellion".

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  • Demonstration
  • Jail
  • Pension reform
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Theater
  • Media
  • Culture