At first glance, the scene is classic. On November 28, during the Parisian demonstration against the “global security” law, demonstrators confront the police, as has become the rule at each demonstration since the movement against the labor law, in 2016. They do part of the leading procession and are followers of the black bloc strategy, where radical militants claiming to be anti-fascism, anarchism or autonomy don an entirely black outfit, masks or balaclavas included, so as not to be identifiable. But, if one dwells on the details, what happened that day seems incongruous. The charge is made behind a banner which is very particular: it represents a portrait of Diego Maradona, Argentine football player and idol of part of the left, who died three days earlier.
This irruption of football into a political demonstration is not anecdotal. It marks the strong links that have united for several years, especially in Paris, some of the radical supporters of the stands, the ultras, and those of the social movement. The “ultras” – who support their team in a collective and organized manner with songs, slogans and scenographies, for whom violence is accepted but is not an end in itself, unlike the hooligans – were thus present in the processions. against the labor law a little over four years ago, during the “yellow vests” movement in 2018-2019 and, therefore, this time against the “global security” law. Edouard (the first name has been changed), in his early thirties, supporter of PSG and who manifests in the leading procession, confirms: “There are a lot of extras coming from the stands. This time, it is in greater proportions: there were 30 to 50 in the front row at the last demonstrations. “
Even more than numerically, the ultra influence is noted in certain codes taken up in the processions: songs punctuated by clappings (such as the song Siamo tutti antifascisti, “We are all anti-fascists”), the generalization of smoke (used only by railway workers in the 1990s) and, above all, the slogan “ACAB”. This acronym stands for “All Cops Are Bastards” (” All cops are bastards “). It can be found in its numerical variation (“1312”, according to the order of the letters in the alphabet), even in an “hourly” version with, sometimes, gatherings called at 1:12 p.m. It gradually became a transversal sign of rallying and anti-police sentiment.
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