The fist raised and with the cry of "Zemmour break, Paris is not yours", the demonstrators gathered in the district of Barbès and took the direction of the park of La Villette at the beginning of the afternoon, where the former journalist was originally scheduled to hold his first major public meeting.
"Zemmour fled Paris", rejoiced to AFP Simon Duteil, spokesperson for the union union Solidaires, "it is important to show that we do not let the fascism that advances".
"Far-right ideas are trivialized. We carry humanist ideas," said Jean-Luc Hacquart, a CGT official for Ile-de-France.
"We are committed against racist speech (...) Paris does not belong to these ideas," added Raphaël Arnault, spokesperson for the Young Guard.
This event is considered "at risk" by the authorities.
Other activists hostile to the far-right candidate gathered in Villepinte, where about thirty people, who were in an area closed to demonstrations were arrested for identity verification and taken to the police station, according to a police source.
After a long tour, sometimes stormy, to promote his latest book, Eric Zemmour, 63, declared his candidacy on Tuesday.
© 2021 AFP